‘Super Thursday’ shows how deeply divided the UK really is

The Conservatives are celebrating last week's election results in England — but it's an entirely different story in Wales and especially Scotland, where pressure to secede remains strong

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon on the steps at Bute House in Edinburgh after her SNP fell one seat short of an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament elections — but still leading a strongly pro-independence majority in Holyrood. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA

Results released at the weekend from the UK’s ‘super Thursday’ elections show that the country is more divided, politically, than at any time in at least a generation, with the still-significant possibility that Scotland may secede from the union.

In the biggest set of UK ballots ever outside of a general election year, Scotland re-emerged as the biggest danger to Boris Johnson’s continuing premiership. The election in that country saw parties favouring independence — the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Greens — winning a clear majority which could become the handmaiden to a second secession referendum.