The Scottish National Party has won an unprecedented majority in the Scottish assembly, paving the way for a referendum on independence from Britain.
Alex Salmond’s party passed the half-way point by taking its 65th seat in a historic win at Kirkcaldy, the first time gains on this scale have been achieved since the 129-seat Parliament was established in 1999.
The final results for the Scottish Parliament election puts the SNP on 69 seats, Labour on 37, Conservatives on 15, Liberal Democrats on five and Greens on two. Independent MSP Margo Macdonald was also returned to parliament.
The decisive victory comes at the heavy expense of Labour in what were considered heartland territories, and with a collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote. In 2007, the SNP beat Labour nationally by just one seat to become the largest party at Holyrood, forming a minority administration led by Mr Salmond.
Mr Salmond, who has said he will bring in an independence referendum in the second half of a five-year term, hailed his party's “spectacular” success. He said wins across the country meant the SNP can now properly be described as the “national party”, represented in all parts of Scotland.
Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to defend the UK from potential breakup "with every fibre" in his body even as he congratulated Mr Salmond on his "emphatic win".
The SNP has long pledged to hold a referendum on Scottish independence. However, support for ending the 300-year-old union with England is lukewarm among the five million Scots
Secession may have implications for the division of revenues from British North Sea oil and gas fields and for major firms headquartered in Scotland, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland which is 83 per cent-owned by the government.
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who hung on to his seat by just 151 votes, is to step down in autumn following his party’s defeat, Labour said today.
Shocks came quickly after polling stations closed last night, with major Labour players finding themselves out of a job. Seat after seat in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh fell to the SNP, including a clean sweep of the entire north-east region.
Candidates once thought of as potential Labour frontbenchers lost out, including former ministers Andy Kerr, Tom McCabe and Frank McAveety.
Former Scottish Tory party leader David McLetchie was unseated in Edinburgh Pentlands.
But the Liberal Democrats appeared the biggest losers with heavy falls in the share of votes. Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott held on to Shetland with a reduced share but his party was beaten in areas where it had previously enjoyed a comfortable majority.
Victories in areas such as Lanarkshire led to former Labour ministers losing what were once considered safe seats.
Elsewhere, Labour dropped Clydesdale, Airdrie and Shotts, Falkirk East, and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth in the first six hours since polling stations closed. The party did pull off a surprise victory in Eastwood, where the Conservatives were predicted to win.
An indication of the boost in SNP support came in Almond Valley, where the party was notionally four votes ahead of Labour going into the election. In the end, the SNP won with a majority of 5,542.
Agencies