The new UK cabinet has already met while Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire is yet to declare a winner
The new UK cabinet under Prime Minister Keir Starmer has already met for the first time while in the Highlands count chaos means that Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire is yet to declare a winner.
The seat will be the last in the UK to announce its results leaving voters none the wiser about who their next MP will definitely be though Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald is expected to win.
Tension was already high as the Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald and the SNP’s Drew Hendry were neck and neck throughout the night but then a “discrepancy” emerged and an initial review of the tally was ordered at around 6am..
Part of the reason for that tension was that the race was already tight – in the words of one count officer “it is close, very close” – but the wait would continue.
A picture of the election was emerging and it was a very bad night for the SNP. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes who was at the count said the party must “rebuild” after a “difficult” night that saw the party lose dozens of seats across the country.
Then at about 6.45am the first recount was ordered by the returning officer because a vote check – technically called an accountancy check – was undertaken but could not be resolved so there would be an expected 90 minute wait
Finally, around three hours later, the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire count descended into total chaos as it was abandoned until today without any clarity on what exact problem or problems were.
There were more developments throughout the day as candidates and supporters tried to digest the news that there would be a big wait for final confirmation.
First, it was confirmed that Mr Hendry would not attend the recount because of unavoidable family commitment.
This came after it became apparent that Mr MacDonald had more boxes – in each box there are 500 votes – than his SNP rival leading to talk he had won.
Then last night Mr Hendry dramatically conceded defeat saying “It has been an absolute joy to serve the people Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey” – the name of the constituency before a boundary shake-up.
This morning at the recount there were renewed concerns about the vote count with the Electoral Commission present but also an SNP lawyer amid fears of a legal challenge.
