Nicola Sturgeon has declared the General Election an “historic watershed” as the SNP secured an extraordinary victory while Labour suffered its worst result in Scotland.
While nationalists celebrated unprecedented gains right across the country, virtually sweeping the board by taking 56 of the 59 seats, Labour has been left with just one MP in all of Scotland – with both Scottish leader Jim Murphy and the party’s election campaign chief Douglas Alexander losing their seats.
But with David Cameron apparently heading for a second term as Prime Minister, Ms Sturgeon’s hopes of forming a “progressive alliance” that would end austerity have been dashed.
The SNP victory is made even more remarkable by the fact that the party lost the Scottish independence referendum just eight months ago.
It seems likely Ms Sturgeon will seek to use her party’s triumph to gain more powers for Holyrood.
However Mr Cameron has already made clear he is determined not to allow the rising tide of nationalism to lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom, promising the speedy delivery of a package of further devolution that has already been agreed.
The Conservative leader said: “I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland.
“In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost – the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days.”
In the 2010 general election no seats in Scotland changed hands, with Labour returning 41 MPs and the SNP winning only six.
But this time round all but nine of the seats had elected new MPs, with Ms Sturgeon saying: “The political firmament, the tectonic plates in Scottish politics have shifted.
“What we are seeing is a historic watershed.”
She added: “Whatever the government is that emerges at Westminster, they cannot ignore what has happened in Scotland.”
The SNP triumphs included the return to Westminster of former leader Alex Salmond, who declared that the “Scottish lion has roared” as he was elected as the new MP for Gordon.
Mr Salmond, who captured the seat from the Liberal Democrats, told supporters: “There is a swing under way in Scotland the like of which has not been seen in recorded politics.
“It is an extraordinary statement of intent from the people of Scotland.”
The SNP, which had never before won a Glasgow constituency in a Westminster election, won all seven seats in Scotland’s largest city, in the process ousting shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran from her Glasgow East constituency.
Labour’s Ian Murray managed to retain his Edinburgh South seat in the face of the SNP tsunami.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Labour has been losing touch with the Scottish people over many years now and tonight the Scottish people have put their trust in the SNP to make Scotland’s voice heard and to stand up for progressive politics, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.
“My message to people who voted for the SNP and to those who did not vote for the SNP, the SNP won’t let you down. We will seek to be Scotland’s voice and we will make sure Scotland’s interests are protected.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband said he was “deeply sorry for what has happened” in Scotland.
Speaking after being re-elected as the MP for Doncaster North, he said: “We have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelm our party.”
Mr Murphy, who lost the East Renfrewshire seat he has held since 1997, vowed his party would fight back.
He insisted: “The fight goes on and our cause continues.
“I know hundreds of thousands of Scots still believe in the progressive policies the Labour Party stands for.
“The Scottish Labour Party has been around for more than a century. A hundred years from tonight we will still be around.
“Scotland needs a strong Labour Party and our fightback starts tomorrow morning.”
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