Three of the United Kingdom's four nations are set for the first time to be governed by pro-independence parties after elections on Friday which nationalists said marked the death knell of the centuries-old union.

A breakup of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is ‌by no means imminent, and polling showed voters were motivated by factors other than independence, but the outcome is likely to make Britain harder to govern.

Michelle O'Neill, the Northern Ireland First Minister from Sinn Féin, which wants to end British rule of the province and unite it with Ireland, described the parliamentary votes in Scotland and Wales - held alongside English local elections - as a "moment of seismic change".

"I don't think there ‌can be any clearer sign that Westminster's time is coming to an end for the people here and the people in ⁠Scotland and Wales," she told Reuters.

The United Kingdom's four nations have proud separate identities and ⁠regularly fought wars before coming together as ⁠one political entity over the centuries, with ties often straining since then.

In recent decades Irish nationalists and pro-British "loyalists" waged a 30-year war over Northern Ireland's place in the ‌union that ended in 1998. Parties representing both sides now govern together under a power-sharing peace deal, but Sinn Fein nationalists won the most seats in 2022 and chose the ⁠first minister for the first time in 2024.

Pro-independence nationalists........

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