THE SCOTSMAN: ALEX Salmond was last night on course for a second term as First Minister as voters across Scotland turned away in large numbers from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.Former Labour minister Andy Kerr became the first major scalp of the Holyrood election, losing to the SNP's Linda Fabiani in the East Kilbride constituency. Mr Kerr, who was Labour's finance spokesman in the last parliament, lost a notional majority, picking up 12,410 votes to Ms Fabiani's 14,359.
Labour's Tom McCabe also lost his Hamilton seat to the SNP's Christina McKelvie.
Elsewhere, there were widespread signs of a collapse in the Lib Dem vote, with Tavish Scott's party losing their deposit in the first seat of the night to be declared in Rutherglen, where the SNP vote surged by 16 per cent.
The broad picture looks set to deliver an SNP victory and a return to Bute House for Alex Salmond with an increased mandate.
If his re-election is confirmed today, Mr Salmond is expected to press ahead with his preferred plan to run a second SNP minority government for the next five years.
Early indications last night suggested clearly that he will be in a far stronger position than over the past four years, when he held a one-seat majority over Labour.
Labour sources were last night indicating they expected the SNP to beat them in several previously secure seats, and that their rivals could have a double-digit lead in seats by the time all the results came in. » | Scott Macnab and Eddie Barnes | Friday, May 06, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Scottish election results: Alex Salmond's victory is a serious threat to the Union: The fundamentalist wing of the SNP will declare that this win is a mandate for an immediate vote on Scottish independence. » | Alan Cochrane | Friday, May 06, 2011
