In Scotland, the nationalist tide has swept all before it | Martin Kettle

The SNP’s slaying of Labour and the Lib Dems feels epochal – and the United Kingdom could be next in line

In the 2010 general election, every parliamentary seat in Scotland re-elected the same party it had elected in 2005. But that was then and this is now – and there is an absolute chasm between them. Last night, in the 2015 election, the overwhelming majority of Scottish seats sent a new Scottish Nationalist face to Westminster. It is the biggest electoral revolution in the British Isles since Sinn Féin obliterated the Irish home rulers in 1918. And the message for the United Kingdom is every bit as threatening.

The SNP said during the campaign that it wanted a Labour win south of the border bolstered by an SNP win in Scotland. But in truth this election was an each-way bet for the SNP. A Conservative win in England offers an even tastier prospect for Nicola Sturgeon’s party – an ancient and visceral dividing line which allows the SNP to stand tall both as Scotland’s champion and the defender of the postwar settlement.

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