The mainstream British parties were last night digesting a day of mixed fortunes in Scotland's forgotten elections. Away from the drama of the battle for Scotland's Parliament the parties were also fighting for control of Scotland's 32 councils. And when the dust settled, both Labour and the SNP suffered roller-coaster fortunes.
Already dealt a bloody nose by Mr Dennis Canavan, who sensationally won a Holyrood seat as an independent in Falkirk West, Labour lost overall control of Falkirk Council, ending up as the biggest party but with only 15 seats on the 32-seat council.
The battle for the town halls was always going to be a tough one for Labour as the previous local elections had been an unprecedented high-point for them, making losses this time almost inevitable.
They lost overall control of Dundee and Clackmannan but gained Renfrewshire from no overall control. And in Glasgow Labour strengthened its already near-total ownership of the council.
It came out of the fight with 74 of the 79 seats.
The SNP also suffered, losing overall control of Moray, and Perth and Kinross, where Tories staged a comeback. Ms Margaret Ewing's Holyrood majority in Moray was also down on her 1997 general election performance there, and Mr Alex Salmond's criticism of the NATO campaign could have been a factor in that area.
But for the Moray council, so too could the "sleaze" rows that have embroiled the council. But the nationalists became the biggest party at Clackmannan, getting nine seats to Labour's eight on the 18-seat council.
The Guardian newspaper said the Tory leader, Mr William Hague was "dead in the water" and that the only question was how long the Conservatives would let his body float.
Analysts say Mr Hague's political obituary will not be written until after European Parliament elections on June 10th. But the Conservatives face the vexing question of who will take his place to try to lead the party out of the hinterland.
Mr Hague received a boost yesterday from bookmaker William Hill, which said the odds of him failing to lead the Conservatives into the next general election had widened from 11/10 to 7/4.