Scottish National Party fails to win key battlegound seat, hitting hopes of majority

The Scottish National Party failed to win the key battleground seat of Aberdeenshire West on Saturday, a result that commentators say makes their chances of winning an outright majority in the Scottish parliament very unlikely.

The SNP is still on course to remain in power, but opponents say a failure to win a majority means they will not have a mandate to seek to hold a second independence referendum which they have promised.

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