John Swinney has said he is willing to talk to every party except Reform after his failure to secure a majority at Holyrood means he will be reliant on other parties.

The SNP leader will need cross-party cooperation to pass budgets and legislation after his party saw the number of MSPs it has fall from 64 to 58 - well short of the 65 seats needed.

The situation opens the door to a possible coalition with the Scottish Greens despite widespread criticism of their previous power-sharing deal.

Speaking in the wake of the election results, Mr Swinney said he would invite the Greens to talks with him next week, as well as the other Holyrood leaders.

However, he said he would not invite Nigel Farage’s Reform party, despite the fact the party is now the joint second largest party at Holyrood with 17 MSPs in regions across the country.

There are now fears a deal with the Greens could lead to higher taxes and a raft of concessions.

Greens co-leader Ross Greer has said his party’s priorities in talks would be free bus travel for all, better childcare and action on climate change.

The latter includes a presumption against new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

The Greens, who worked with the SNP for three years under the Bute House agreement, also included a raft of tax rises in their manifesto, including a 1 per cent levy on home values.

Mr Greer told BBC Radio Scotland there was also an ‘urgent need’ for independence, although there was no need to negotiate ‘because we agree on it already’.

Speaking at a post-election press conference in Edinburgh yesterday (Sat), Mr Swinney said he wanted a ‘stable and inclusive approach to governance’ but immediately excluded Reform, accusing it of ‘hostility to minority groups in our country’ and wanting to abolish Holyrood.

But asked if he was seeking a coalition with the Greens, he refused to rule it out.

He said: ‘I’m going to engage in discussions with the leaders of all political parties.

‘I won’t be inviting Reform in to have those discussions.

‘I will invite the other party leaders to come in to have those discussions individually, and I’ll start that process next week. I recognise the need to work collaboratively.

‘As we’ve demonstrated on different issues, we’ve had good cooperation with members of the Green party.

‘We’ve had cooperation with Liberals on some of our budget provisions.

‘We’ve even had good cooperation with members of the Conservative and Labour parties on different policy issues.

‘It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility for politicians to work together. I shall give it my level best.’

But he was adamant he would do the bare minimum required when interacting with Reform in parliament.

He said: ‘There are some things I’m obliged to do. But I’m not obliged to invite Reform into St Andrew’s House next week to have discussions with me about how we cooperate together. I’m not going to do it

‘That will be viewed by some people as being me being exclusive.

‘It’s me being deliberately firm about what I’m going to do, setting out the boundaries of my cooperation.’

Reform came third on votes received and equal second on MSPs elected on Thursday.

Asked if he risked turning them into victims and alienating the one in six voters who backed them, Mr Swinney said Reform’s vote came from ‘people who have racist views and people who are angry’ and he would do his best to address that anger with SNP policies.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said Scottish business leaders were ‘deeply concerned’ at the prospect of the Greens holding sway over the SNP again.

He said: ‘Lots of people in business in Scotland - particularly in hospitality and entrepreneurs - are deeply concerned about the prospects of an anti-growth party being part of the firmament of government.

‘We saw that in the deposit return scheme and in some housing policies which drove away investment.

‘I’m keen to attract investment and wealth creators to Scotland.

‘Business have been very clear they want budgets and policy which supports growth and inward investment.

‘We’re very anxious that the SNP will reach for the Greens more often than not and then set us back.

‘The last parliament is evidence of how that can happen.’

Reform’s Scottish leader Malcolm Offord accused Mr Swinney of a ‘disgraceful attempt to silence the hundreds of thousands of people’ who backed the party.

He said: ‘The First Minister talks endlessly about democracy and inclusion, yet the moment voters support a party that challenges the failing political consensus at Holyrood, he wants to pretend they don’t exist.

‘It is arrogant, petty and deeply undemocratic.

‘What’s more, exactly the kind of out-of-touch establishment politics people are sick of.

‘The SNP can lock the doors of St Andrew’s House if they like but they cannot shut down the growing demand for real change in Scotland.’