THE Glasgow count was the scene of one of the most high-profile contests of the election between the leaders of the SNP and Labour.

There was little surprise when Nicola Sturgeon comfortably saw off the challenge from Anas Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside constituency, winning a majority of nearly 9500.

It was a pattern that was repeated with SNP MSPs holding their seats in the three other Glasgow constituencies which were declared yesterday.

Instead, the main theme at the count, held in the city’s Emirates Arena, was defeating intolerance and bigotry.

One of the candidates standing against Sturgeon was independent candidate Jayda Fransen, who had confronted the SNP leader in a tense incident outside a polling station on Thursday.

There was laughter when it was announced Fransen, a former deputy leader of Britain First who has been convicted of anti-Muslim hate crimes, had secured just 46 votes in Glasgow Southside – the lowest of any of the candidates.

Sturgeon referenced the incident in her victory speech, saying she was proud her constituency had “shown the racists and the fascists they are not welcome” anywhere in Scotland.

The count had also earlier seen some unpleasant scenes before any results were announced, when members of an anti-vaccine party accosted Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf.

WATCH: Nicola Sturgeon deals with far-right extremists at polling station

The Liberal Party’s Glasgow Southside candidate Derek Jackson – who won just 102 votes – had arrived at the count with supporters wearing black suits, yellow stars and armbands, which had “unvax” written on them.

His supporters also performed Nazi-style salutes outside the stadium, later denying that the yellow stars and gestures were linked to Nazism.

Yousaf said the members of the Liberal Party made a “beeline” for him and asked him about “child rape victims in Pakistan” as well as the Scottish Government’s Hate Crime Bill. He said they had been directing questions to him about Pakistan, adding “obviously because of my colour of skin, I’m not from Pakistan, my home is in Scotland”.

Other political parties stepped in to support Yousaf and the SNP in challenging them and Jackson was later escorted from the hall by police officers.

The day had begun more quietly, with counting getting underway at 9am instead of the usual frantic overnight election activity.

Covid restrictions meant there was only room for half the usual number of counting staff in the hall, with ballots being unfolded in lines of spaced-out desks behind protective plastic screens.

From early on there was talk of a high turnout – backing up reports of long queues at polling stations the previous night.

All the Glasgow constituencies which declared yesterday recorded a far higher turnout than in 2016.

The biggest jump was in the Southside seat – with turnout up by nearly 12% reaching 59.78%. Pollok was 54.33% compared to 45.5% in 2016, while voter turnout in Anniesland increased from 50.1% to 58.64%. In Maryhill and Springburn, the total was 51.87%, up from 44%. The high turnout meant it took some time for results to be declared – with the length of the peach regional ballot paper, which took some time to unfold, also said to be adding to the count time.

Just after 3.20pm, Glasgow Anniesland was the first result to be announced, with the SNP’s Bill Kidd holding on comfortably with a majority of 6586 over Scottish Labour candidate Eva Clark Murray. In 2011 he won the seat for the first time with a majority of just seven votes.

A ripple of applause greeted the arrival of Sturgeon not long afterwards, who took a quick walk round the hall followed by the media. With the first results trickling in, she was initially cautious about the SNP’s chances of a majority, saying it “has always been a very, very long shot”.

After her win was announced just after 4pm, she was in a more buoyant mood, saying: “At this stage I am extremely happy that the SNP appears to be on course for a fourth consecutive election victory and to be on course to have the privilege of forming a government again.”

She stayed near the stage to see another SNP victory, with Bob Doris holding the Maryhill and Springburn seat, securing a majority of 7927 over Labour’s Keiran O’Neill.

The last seat to be declared around 5.15pm was Glasgow Pollok, which was held by the SNP’s Yousaf with a majority of 7105.

In his speech he referenced the clash with the Liberal Party members describing the “thugs who made nasty salutes, and tried to intimidate ethnic minority candidates, myself included”.

But he said whenever he has encountered hatred and abuse over the years, it has always been outweighed by the “voices of good” and praised the support shown across the political spectrum.

He added: “I pay tribute to those who came to support me, those from the Labour Party, from the Green Party, from the Liberal [Democrats] and the Conservatives.

“They ensured we collectively told them you are not welcome here.”