GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) – Just seven months after Scotland’s pro-independence movement failed in a referendum to break up the 308-year-old political union with England, the Scottish National Party has overturned decades of Labour Party dominance by securing a record-breaking share of the vote.
The SNP took 56 out of the 59 U.K. parliamentary seats in Scotland. Some of Britain’s most experienced Labour politicians lost their seats, including former Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander, who was beaten by a 20-year-old Glasgow University politics student.
Political novice Mhairi Black became the youngest member of the British Parliament since 1667 when she captured the Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituency from the Alexander.
Throughout Scotland, the vote for change – and for a party that favors independence – was overwhelming. The SNP will now become the third largest party in the U.K. parliament – an ironic position for a party that wants to break of from the United Kingdom.
The SNP is also staunchly opposed to the austerity program imposed by the ruling Conservatives, and seeks the removal of the Trident nuclear fleet from Scottish waters.