SNP triumphant in unexpected Holyrood landslide

Incumbent First Minister Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party secured the first overall majority in Scottish Parliament history last week, after an historic electoral landslide which forced three other party leaders to resign.

The SNP gained 23 seats in the 5 May election, giving them a total of 69 - four more than the 65 needed for an absolute majority. Speaking shortly after the results were announced, Mr Salmond called the election "a victory for a society and a nation."

Five out of six Edinburgh seats went to the SNP, with only Labour MSP Malcolm Chisholm holding his Edinburgh North & Leith seat.

Scottish Labour, meanwhile, suffered a disastrous defeat in the constituency vote, with a cascade of safe seats in Glasgow and the Central Belt turning to the SNP. Iain Gray's party regained some ground in the regional lists, but were nonetheless left with just 37 seats in Holyrood. After seeing his own majority reduced to just 151 votes, Mr Gray said that he would stand down as leader in autumn, to allow "a fundamental and radical reappraisal of the structure and direction of Scottish Labour."

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile were largely wiped out, losing 12 of their 17 seats. The en masse flight of Lib Dem voters to the SNP is largely speculated to have provided a significant poll boost to the nationalists. Tavish Scott announced shortly after the election that he would resign his leadership, citing the need for "new direction, new thinking and new leadership to win back the trust of the Scottish people."

Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie, whose party were reduced to just 15 seats at Holyrood, called the result "seismic" and said that she would also stand down in the autumn. "I want my successor to have the maximum time for him or her to shape the party and its policies and to lead the opposition at Holyrood," she said.

Last Thursday also saw a nationwide referendum on the introduction of the Alternative Vote electoral system. Much as expected, the 'No' vote triumphed with 67.9 per cent of the vote - another damaging blow to beleaguered deputy prime minister Nick Clegg. The Lib Dem leader also watched his party being wiped out in the local government elections in England, where the Lib Dems lost control of 9 out of 10 councils they had previously held.

Labour saw a surge in the English elections, increasing the number of councils under their control to 57, up 26. The Conservatives managed to prevent any significant losses, gaining control of four councils.

In Wales, poor performances by both Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems allowed Labour to increase their holding in the Welsh Assembly to 30, just short of an overall majority. Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones has announced his intention to lead a minority government in Cardiff.