Veteran Fergus Ewing finishes third as SNP take Inverness and Nairn
BBCVeteran politician Fergus Ewing has failed to return to Holyrood for the first time in 27 years after finishing third in Inverness and Nairn.
The former SNP government minister, who was standing as an independent, lost out to the SNP's Emma Roddick and second placed Scottish Liberal Democrat Neil Alexander.
The former SNP government minister is part of a political dynasty with his mother Winnie, sister Annabelle and late wife Margaret all prominent SNP figures.
It will be the first time a Ewing has not been in a UK or Scottish parliament since 1987.
Roddick, a former regional list MSP, held the constituency for the SNP.
Roddick said it had been a close race and she was excited to get to work as the constituency's new MSP.
"It feels fantastic. I live here, I care very deeply about the constituency," she said.
"I will be absolutely committed to Inverness and Nairn."
Ewing has represented the area in all its guises since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
He quit the party last year after previously being suspended for criticising the party's leadership.
Ewing had also been highly critical of the government's progress on making improvements to the A9 and A96 trunk roads.
Reflecting on his time as an MSP, he said: "I think John Smith, the Labour leader of the 80s and early 90s, put it best - he said the greatest honour one can have is the opportunity to serve.
"I was accorded that honour on six occasions."
Meanwhile, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have made gains from the SNP in the Highland area by winning Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Skye, Lochaber and Badenonch.
David Green won Caithness, Sutherland and Ross - the UK's biggest constituency by geographic size.
Green beat the SNP's Maree Todd, a former Scottish government minister, into second place. She had been hoping to be returned as the area's MSP.
Green's career includes a lengthy spell as a Lib Dem staffer, including for former leader and Highland MP Charles Kennedy, who died in 2015.
Todd's ministerial roles had included minister for drugs and alcohol policy.
Andrew Baxter won Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
The seat had been represented by former deputy first minister Kate Forbes, but she announced she was standing down before the election.
Green had 14,666 votes to Todd's 9,574. Turnout was just over 54%.
Green told BBC Scotland News he was a "bag of emotions" after being elected as an MSP.
"It's incredibly humbling and I want to pay tribute to those who came before me and to my campaign team," he said.
Green said he campaigned on health services, roads and cost of living.
He added: "I'll work day in day out for you - that's my message to them [constituents]."
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross covers an area of almost 4,942 sq miles and stretches from Dingwall up to Wick, Thurso and John O' Groats.
Baxter was elected as the new MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch with 15,223 votes - about 1,000 more than the SNP candidate Eilidh Munro.
