Scottish National Party routs Labour to win historic majority

The Scottish National Party today made history after seizing an overall majority in Scotland's parliament.

Alex Salmond's party secured an unprecedented majority of 65 out of 129 seats at Holyrood.
Mr Salmond hailed the results as "spectacular" after watching the SNP oust Labour big beasts on its way to a second term in power.

Both David Cameron and Iain Gray, Labour's leader in Scotland, offered their congratulations to Mr Salmond for the "emphatic" win.

The results also moved the country closer to a vote on breaking away from the United Kingdom. Mr Salmond made a pre-election pledge to hold a referendum on independence by 2015 if the SNP won more than half of the Holyrood seats.

The SNP has ruled as a minority administration since 2007, but won seat after seat in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh and secured a clean sweep of the entire north-east region.

Labour appeared on course for its poorest performance in Scotland for 80 years, and party leader Mr Gray was narrowly re-elected with a majority of 151 votes. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls warned against a breakaway, saying: "That will send a shiver down the spines of people because it is a flawed, dangerous and reckless plan."

The Lib-Dems were routed as the party's share of the vote plummeted, and they lost their deposits in at least 20 seats, while the Tories also suffered.

With 21 seats still to declare, the SNP had 65 (up 27), Labour 29 (down 10), the Conservatives nine (down five) and the Lib-Dems four (down 13), with one Green. Mr Salmond, who will return as First Minister, said the results showed the SNP had been "bestowed trust in a way that no party ever has before in a Scottish election".

The results will pile pressure on Mr Gray to resign after he saw a pre-election poll lead evaporate. He vowed to take "responsibility" for what had happened but would not elaborate.