SNP Results in General Election Exit Polls Raise Concerns Over UK Unity

Anne Lapping, Vice chairman for the council and court of the London School of Economics claims that the exit poll results for the Scottish National Party, which showed that it was coming third in the UK general election, raise concerns, as they point to an emerging threat to the unity of the United Kingdom.

LONDON (Sputnik) – The exit poll results for the Scottish National Party (SNP), which showed that it was coming third in the UK general election, raise concerns, as they point to an emerging threat to the unity of the United Kingdom, Anne Lapping, Vice chairman for the council and court of the London School of Economics (LSE) told Sputnik on Thursday.

"I think the SNP result bodes very, very badly for the unity of the United Kingdom, I think it makes things very, very difficult," Lapping said, adding that the result of the SNP, which came third with 58 out of 59 possible seats, according to a BBC/ITV/Sky exit poll, "is probably right."

Meanwhile SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon urged to exercise caution with regard to exit poll results.

"I'd treat the exit poll with HUGE caution," Sturgeon wrote on her Twitter page, adding that she was hoping "for a good night" but considered 58 seats to be an "unlikely" result for SNP.

SNP, which has a membership of over 110,000 in the British Parliament, has become the third largest party in the United Kingdom, surpassing the Liberal Democrats' 44,000 members.

"I feel sympathy for the Lib-Dems, they did the right thing last time for the country, and it has done them no good at all, which I think is a little sad," Lapping told Sputnik on Thursday.

The BBC/ITV/Sky exit poll showed that The Liberal Democrats secured 10 seats in the British Parliament. Conservatives were leading with 316 seats, which is 77 more than the Labour Party managed to secure.

According to Lapping, the toughness of the Conservatives will be reinforced if the exit poll results are proved by official ones. She added that the question now is how long will Labour Party leader Ed Miliband survive and suggested it would be a year.

The Thursday general election in the United Kingdom is considered to be the most closely-contested in decades as the country's two biggest parties – the Conservatives, led by British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Labour – were evenly poised by poll trackers at around 34 percent of votes each prior to the election day.

Some of the smaller parties have garnered more support, compared with the 2010 general election. The Scottish National Party (SNP) could emerge as the biggest gainer despite having failed to drum up enough votes in last year's Scottish independence referendum.