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Early seat declarations from the Holyrood election have placed the SNP firmly ahead.

The party has won 41 seats while the Scottish Conservatives have won five. The Tories have benefited from strong swing in the constituency vote with a rise of eight per cent since 2011.

Gains have also been made by the Scottish Liberal Democrats who now sit with five seats. The losers from the election are Scottish Labour who currently have only three seats.

In a number of constituencies the Nationalists have polled over 50% of the vote. The party has so far gained nine seats from Scottish Labour, whose vote has declined nationally by nine per cent from the previous election.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon told reporters at the Glasgow count that she is "expecting to have a stunning night here in Glasgow" and that "we're not so much beating Labour as replacing them. At this stage I'm expecting a very good night."

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale failed to win the Edinburgh Eastern seat, trailing winning candidate Ash Denham of the SNP by 5087 votes.

Further bad news for Scottish Labour came in Eastwood, where sitting MSP Ken Macintosh finished third while the Scottish Conservatives' Jackson Carlaw won the seat - one of the Tories' top targets.

Commenting afterwards, the defeated Labour candidate said that the last 18 months have been bad for the party.

Macintosh said: "The Labour party has had a very difficult time since the referendum. I think we are starting to win the arguments but we aren't winning the votes."

Welcome news for the Labour party came in the form of former leader Iain Gray holding on to his East Lothian constituency and Jackie Baillie also in Dunbarton. The party was able gain one seat from the SNP with Labour candidate Daniel Johnson victorious after the votes were counted.

The Tories held off a challenge for their Ayr seat from the SNP, holding it with an increased share of the vote.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson had unexpected win in Edinburgh Central. She topped the poll with over 10,000 votes.

Her party then went on to win the Aberdeenshire West from the SNP.

There has also been good news for the Scottish Liberal Democrats with party leader Willie Rennie gaining the North East Fife seat from the SNP. The party also took Edinburgh Western from the SNP.

The party has also held off the SNP's advance in the Northern Isles by retaining both the Orkney and Shetland constituencies.

Liam McArthur held Orkney for the Lib Dems with an increased majority. His party polled 66.5% of all votes in the area with a swing of 16%. Meanwhile, former Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott will make a return to Holyrood after winning Shetland.

Ballot papers were issued to 4,099,547 registered voters across the nation.

This is the fifth Scottish Parliament election since it was reconvened in 1999.