Election results map turns SNP in Scotland after Sturgeon's party sweeps to victory

It was a good day for Nicola Sturgeon

Ben Tufft
Friday 08 May 2015 15:37 BST
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The Tories swept to victory, the Lib Dems and Labour crumbled - and for the SNP it couldn't have got much better.

In 2010 most of the seats north of the border were split between Labour's red and the Liberal Democrats, with a smattering of SNP and a solitary seat shaded in Tory blue.

Turn to 2015 and the SNP has swept to victory in all but three seats in the country, colouring the map almost entirely in the favour of the SNP.

The nationalist party was able to overturn huge majorities in formerly rock-solid Labour constituencies, toppling shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander and the Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy.

In England the picture has not changed as dramatically, but the geographical division between the parties is stark. The Conservatives took rural seats and the south, while Labour added seats in London and held out in their urban northern heartlands.

The Tories did notch up impressive wins, however, most noticeably in defeating Ed Balls in his Morley and Outwood constituency.

The real shock was the wipe out of the Liberal Democrats in their traditional stronghold of the southwest, as the region turned blue. The party now holds just six seats in England.

In Wales, Plaid Cymru added green to the map, the Tories some blue and the Liberal Democrats were able to hold on to the Ceredigion constituency, leaving a single seat in the party’s orange.

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