WHATEVER the precise outcome of the election, one thing is already certain: there will be a pro-independence majority in Holyrood.

Either the SNP will gain an outright majority, or lose out by a slim margin but with Greens added in Yes parties will have a clear mandate from the Scottish people to begin negotiations with the UK government for a second referendum.

Unseemly though it may be amid pandemic, the electoral mathematics demand the SNP now comes up with a new prospectus for independence which can be presented to the Scottish people.

Although most Yes supporters don’t want another referendum until Covid is beaten, Scotland cannot be left in the dark any longer about the fine detail of our constitutional future - especially if a standoff will inevitably take place with Boris Johnson over a second referendum.

If we’re going into a constitutional crisis we cannot be passive observers. Now the voting is over, we need to know what independence really means.

To read the rest of this analysis, sign up to The Herald's new political newsletter, Unspun, and get unrivalled political analysis in your inbox every day at 6pm.

Sign up here.