SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon arrives with Humza Yousaf at the count for the Scottish Parliament elections at the Emirates Arena (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The SNP will form a minority government at Holyrood.

The Conservatives have become the opposition party in Scotland, beating Labour into third place.

The Scottish Greens have overtaken the Liberal Democrats.

Earlier

Nicola Sturgeon declared the SNP has “made history” by winning a third term in government at Holyrood.

While the results of many seats are still to be announced, the First Minister said it is “now beyond doubt” that her party has won the election.

She spoke as results put the Scottish Conservatives on track to become the official opposition at the Scottish Parliament, subjecting Labour to what would be its worst ever Holyrood result.

The SNP made a clean sweep of all the Glasgow constituencies – as the party did in last year’s Westminster election – with Ms Sturgeon comfortably returned asthe MSP for Glasgow Southside.

She said: “I want to thank the people of this great city of Glasgow. If you had told me when I was a teenager, starting out in politics, that one day the SNP would win every constituency in the city of Glasgow, not just in one election but in two elections, I would scarcely have been able to believe it.”

She went on to thank “with great humility the people of Scotland for placing their trust in me and in the SNP”.

Ms Sturgeon said: “There are many results to be declared this evening, but what is now beyond doubt is that the SNP has won a third consecutive Scottish Parliament election.

“That has never been done before in the history of the Scottish Parliament. We have tonight made history.”

Scottish Labour’s electoral collapse continued, as the party lost seats to both the SNP and the Tories and leader Kezia Dugdale failed in her bid to take Edinburgh Eastern.

In contrast, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson won Edinburgh Central from the SNP, while her deputy Jackson Carlaw took Eastwood from Labour’s Ken Macintosh, who had represented the area since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.

Another Tory gain saw Oliver Mundell, the son of Scottish Secretary David Mundell, win Dumfriesshire from Labour, while Alexander Burnett took Aberdeenshire West for the Tories from the SNP.

There was also success for the Liberal Democrats, with Scottish leader Willie Rennie winning back the North East Fife seat from the SNP, while children’s charity worker Alex Cole-Hamilton won Edinburgh Western from the nationalists.

In Glasgow Kelvin, the Scottish Green co-convener Patrick Harvie came in secondto the SNP, taking almost a quarter of the votes cast.

This is the first Holyrood election in which the Greens fielded candidates in the first-past-the-post constituency section of the ballot.

Mr Harvie said: “Caroline Lucas in Brighton has shown how Greens can win and hold first-past-the-post seats. The Scottish Greens have begun that journey and our result in Glasgow Kelvin is a great start for us to build on.”

Early indications that it could be a bad night for Ms Dugdale’s Labour were apparent from the second seat to be declared.

Labour lost the Rutherglen constituency, which it had held since 1999, to the SNP, with mental health nurse Clare Haughey elected as the new MSP for the area.

Seats which had previously been considered part of Labour’s heartlands also fell to the nationalists, including Motherwell and Wishaw, and Greenock and Inverclyde.

Ms Sturgeon described the apparent collapse in support for Labour as “quite staggering”.

Former Labour leader Iain Gray managed to hold on to his East Lothian constituency, but the party’s current deputy Alex Rowley lost the Cowdenbeath seat that he had won in a by-election.

Veteran Labour MSP Jackie Baillie held on to the Dumbarton constituency she has represented since 1999, but with a majority of just 109 over the SNP.

And Labour enjoyed a rare gain from the SNP in Edinburgh Southern, where Daniel Johnson won the seat for the party.

But Anas Sarwar, former Scottish Labour deputy leader, conceded: “Undoubtedly it’s a difficult night for the Labour Party.”

In contrast, Ms Davidson said: “I think the indications are that we as a party have had a good night.”

The Tory campaign had focused on providing a strong opposition to the SNP, and Ms Davidson added: “I fully recognise and understand there are many people that have given us their vote for the very first time, not because they’re true blue Conservatives but because there’s a job of work they want us to do.”

She hailed her victory in Edinburgh Central as an “incredible result” after the Tories came from fourth in 2011 to win the seat.

She added: “I hope the message that was resonating was of being a strong opposition, to hold the SNP to account, to saying no to a second independence referendum, to respect the decision that our country made and to really focus on the things we’re paying a government to focus on, on schools, on hospitals, on public services. That’s what people want.”

Glasgow was the first area to declare its list MSPs for the region, with Labourtaking four of the seven places.

Anas Sarwar, a former MP and ex-Scottish deputy leader, was elected to Holyrood on the list, along with former leader Johann Lamont, and party colleagues James Kelly and Pauline McNeill.

The Tories gained two more MSPs, with Adam Tomkins and Annie Wells both elected, while Green co-convener Mr Harvie was again returned as an MSP for the city.

Three Tories were elected as list MSPs from the Lothian region, with MilesBriggs, Gordon Lindhurst and Jeremy Balfour all now heading for Holyrood.

Labour secured two MSPs for the region, party leader Ms Dugdale and Neil Findlay. Sarah Boyack, who had won a seat via the list in 2011, failed to be re-elected.

The Greens also now have two MSPs for the area, with Alison Johnstone returned to the Scottish Parliament along with land reform campaigner Andy Wightman.

Ms Johnstone, Scottish Green health spokeswoman, said: “I’m delighted to be re-elected to serve Lothian and look forward to continuing to bring constructive pressure to bear in parliament, building on the work I’ve already done on everything from fracking and planning issues to community ownership and health inequalities.

“I’m delighted we have doubled our representation in Lothian. Andy and I look forward to keeping up the pressure in parliament on the issues that matter.”

Mr Wightman said: “This boost in support along with our growing membership has delivered an amazing result in Lothian.

“I want to thank the Green teams across Edinburgh, West Lothian, Midlothian and Musselburgh for all the hard work they put in. I am determined to bring bold ideas into parliament and will pursue issues such as local democracy and land reform with vigour.”

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