What a difference five years make! General election viewers remark on former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon's sour face at projected party loss compared to her classless fist bumping over a rival losing h

Late-night election viewers have taken to social media to point out former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon 's glum expression after a classless fist-pumping celebration at her party's gains in 2019.

Ms Sturgeon, who is currently under investigation by the police alongside her husband and former chief executive of the party Peter Murrell, was interviewed on ITV minutes after the exit poll revealed the decimation of the SNP's vote.

The party is forecast to hang on to just 10 of its 48 seats from 2019 after several years of turmoil within the party which has seen two leaders - Ms Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf - resign.

The former SNP leader looked stone-faced and admitted the projection was at the 'lower end' of expectations.

It is a stark contrast to 2019, when she cheered and pumped her fists in the air after it was announced election rival Jo Swinson had lost her seat.

The former Lib Dem leader, who fought her first and so far only election as leader, lost out to the SNP in East Dunbartonshire.

While Ms Swinson, who was the first female and youngest leader of the party, appeared emotional at the loss, Ms Sturgeon was seen on live television tactlessly celebrating in front of the camera.

It's a far cry from her rather muted performance on ITV overnight as she defended her party's record.

Social media users were quick to point out the difference, with JK Rowling also entering the fray.

Ms Rowling has clashed with Ms Sturgeon previously over trans rights.

She said: 'Nobody likes Schadenfreude. That said, Nicola Sturgeon's expression as the exit poll results were announced.'

Former Labour MSP Neil Findlay added: 'I sat in the studio in 2019 having to fend off questions about the Labour result it was awful - I know exactly how Nicola Sturgeon feels and am enjoying watching it immensely.'

One X user said: 'Sturgeon looking about as uncomfortable as I've seen her, sour and vaguely queasy. More so than a lot of the Tories who have been up tonight.'

Another X user wrote: 'Check out Sturgeon's face!'

Speaking on ITV, the ex-SNP leader reacted minutes after the exit poll was revealed, she said: 'This is not a good night for the SNP on these numbers.

'I think there will be a question about whether there was enough in the campaign to give out, effectively, a USP to the SNP in an election that was about getting the Tories out and replacing them with Labour.'

She added: 'This is at the grimmer end of the expectations for the SNP if the exit poll is right and, from what I've said earlier on, I expect it will be.

'This is seismic for Labour. There's no getting away from that, it's a massive achievement for Keir Starmer.'

The first result in Scotland is expected to be Rutherglen, which could declare at 1am.

The SNP's campaign centred around calls for talks on another independence referendum if the party won a majority of seats at the election.

Despite the exit poll result, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes told the BBC: 'I would strongly caution anybody against dismissing the robust, resilient and significant number of people in this country that support independence and the next Labour government will have to contend with that, we'll have to listen to Scottish voters because even over the last few months - which have been difficult - that support for independence has remained strong.'

But she added the party would need to 'listen to the voices of voters' and 'set out our agenda to regain and rebuild the trust of the voters across Scotland', she said.

The party's campaign chief, Stewart Hosie, described the poll as 'stark' but insisted it was 'just an exit poll'.

'In the next few hours, we'll see how accurate or otherwise it is,' he told the PA news agency.

Asked what such a result could mean for the SNP, Mr Hosie said he was not concerned.

'In 2005, I think we were down to five or six MPs and we went on to win the Holyrood election in 2007,' he said.

Former first minister and Alba Party leader Alex Salmond said the SNP's potential collapse was 'not because of independence'.

'How could it be? The SNP did not even campaign on it,' he said.

'In reality, the support for independence is strong. It is the SNP who are weak. The independence case must now find new vehicles to move forward.'

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser told journalists at the election count for Perth and Kinross-shire that despite the dire predictions for the Tories across the UK, in Scotland the party could make gains.

He said: 'It does look like, on the basis of the exit poll, the Conservatives might not just be looking to hold the seats we have in Scotland but actually might make gains.'

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy warned against reading into the UK-wide exit poll when predicting results in Scotland.

Speaking to the BBC from the Glasgow election count, he said: 'I think all of our seats are going to be very, very close in Scotland.'

Asked about analysis of the exit poll pointing to possible Tory gains in Scotland, he said: 'I think we should be very cautious about taking a UK-wide exit poll and trying to extrapolate something in Scotland from it.'

The exit poll predictions signal voters had a 'desperate need for change', a Scottish Labour MSP has said. Glasgow MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said the exit poll predicted a 'strong' result for Labour.

She said: 'It was a strong exit poll. I think that the country has been saying for some time now that they're fed up of the 14 years of Tory chaos.'

She added: 'There's really been a desperate need for change and we've ran a really strong, positive campaign and I'm so proud of it.'

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said the exit poll was a 'hopeful' sign for his party at a UK level where it predicted two Green MPs.

He said any gain from the one English seat the Greens won at the 2019 general election would be 'something to celebrate'.