FORMER Better Together chief Blair McDougall has claimed a seat from the SNP – as the party struggles across central Scotland.
McDougall took East Renfrewshire for Labour, ousting the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald.
He was the chief strategist to the Unionist campaign during the 2014 referendum.
The seat was central to the SNP storming to electoral dominance in 2015, when they turfed out former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy.
READ MORE: SNP figures react to 'stark' exit poll result leaving party with just 10 seats
Elsewhere, Mhairi Black’s old seat has fallen to Labour as a top Unionist was elected to Parliament.
Labour’s Johanna Baxter (above), a Unison official and former director of anti-independence group Scotland in Union, has claimed the Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat from the SNP.
READ MORE: Labour win first Scottish seat of General Election as SNP vote share collapses
In 2015, this seat was also symbolic of Labour’s routing by the SNP as Black unseated former Cabinet minister Douglas Alexander (below).
She became the youngest MP since 1832 and was re-elected twice until she announced she was stepping down at this election.
READ MORE: General Election exit poll predicts Labour landslide as SNP win just 10 seats
Alexander was declared the winner in his new seat of East Lothian, which had previously been held by Alba’s Kenny MacAskill.
Baxter won 19,583 votes to the SNP candidate Jacqueline Cameron’s 13,056.
The SNP have so far lost seats to Labour in West Dunbartonshire and Kilmarnock and Loudoun.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here