Decapitation: Jim Murphy falls in disastrous night for Scottish Labour
Jim Murphy has lost his seat in what looks set to be an almost total wipeout for Labour in Scotland.
The Scottish Labour leader began his campaign with the aim of holding onto every one of Labour's seats in Scotland. It now looks likely Labour will lose almost all the seats they hold in the country.
Far from stemming Labour's losses, Murphy suffered a humiliating personal defeat at the hands of the SNP.
Speaking after his defeat in East Renfrewshire, Murphy congratulated the SNP, but warned against the rise of nationalism.
"With a victory on this scale also comes responsibility. No-one should confuse nationalism with our nation. No-one should ever mistake their party for our country because our history, our streets, our flag have never and will never belong to one political party or one political cause."
He also defended his failure to hold off the SNP surge.
"It's proven hard to turn around years of difficulty in the Labour party in just five months," he added.
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond was scathing of Murphy's record.
"People said Johann Lamont was a bad leader of the Labour party in Scotland," he told LBC.
"I have to say I think Johann Lamont was a substantially better leader of the Scottish Labour party than Jim Murphy."
The size of swings to the SNP across Scotland are unlike any seen in recent political history, with even the strongest of Labour strongholds being overwhelmed by the surge.
Douglas Alexander was one of the first big beasts in Scotland to lose his seat in Paisley and Renfrewshire South, followed by shadow secretary of state Margaret Curran. Alexander lost to 20-year-old SNP candidate Mhairi Black. Labour also lost Gordon Brown's former seat in Kirkcaldy Cowdenbeath and their safest seat Glasgow North East, on a 39% swing.
The SNP had initially poured cold water on the exit poll suggesting they had won a clean slate in Scotland, with Nicola Sturgeon claiming it was highly "unlikely".
