for Remain alongside Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Plaid Cymru, while the Remain campaign was also supported by the UK Government and Prime Minister David Cameron, despite the Conservative Party remaining officially neutral. The UK Independence Party was the only main party in Great Britain to campaign for Leave. The UK as a whole voted for Leave by 52% on the back of English support, with England voting for Leave by 53%, while Scotland voted overwhelmingly for Remain by 62%, alongside Northern Ireland and Greater London. In its manifesto for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, launched in April, two months before the EU referendum, the SNP stated that "a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will" would justify another independence referendum. Scotland's desire to remain in the EU and the direction taken by Conservative governments since the referendum have driven the SNP campaign for another independence referendum. 2017 United Kingdom general election The SNP underperformed against polling expectations, losing 21 seats to bring their Westminster MPs down to 35. In what was largely attributed to their stance on holding a second Scottish independence referendum and saw a significant swing to the Unionist parties, with seats being gained by the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats and a significant reduction in their majorities in the seats they did manage to retain. High-profile losses included: SNP House of Commons leader Angus Robertson in Moray and former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond in Gordon; both of whom lost their seats to the Conservative Party. 2019 United Kingdom general election The party achieved its best ever European Parliament result in the final election before Brexit, with the party taking its MEP total to 3 or half of Scottish seats. Later that year the SNP experienced a surge in the 2019 general election, winning 45.0% of the vote in Scotland. Although the party suffered a loss to the Liberal Democrats, it gained the seat of its then UK leader Jo Swinson, along with 7 from the Conservatives and 6 from Labour. Overall the party finished with 48 out of 59, or 81% of Scotland's Westminster seats. References Further reading Thomas A. W. Stewart, "'A disguised Liberal vote'? – third-party voting and the SNP under Gordon Wilson in Dundee during the 1970s and 1980s", Contemporary British