General Election 2015: Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy loses seat to SNP

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Labour’s Scottish leader Jim Murphy has lost his seat to the SNP, with the Scottish nationalists storming to an unprecedented victory north of the border.

Prior to the result he told reporters as he voted at Busby Primary School in the constituency: “The sun is shining and there is a huge amount of energy and confidence” in the party as he voted

“I've always been the underdog in this constituency,” he said.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander was the party's other notable casualty as it faces total wipeout in Scotland.

Mr Murphy became the party’s Scottish leader late last year, after his predecessor Johann Lamont resigned following the result of the Scottish referendum.

But he has failed to turn his party's fortunes around in Scotland, and has instead been overtaken by a tide of support for the SNP, with polls showing it could virtually wipe out Labour in Scotland.

He was first elected in Tony Blair’s landslide election in 1997 – winning the East Renfrewshire seat by more than 10,000 votes in 2010.

During his tenure as an MP, he has also served as the Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 until 2010.