DOUGLAS Alexander’s political career lies in ruins today after losing the seat he had held for almost 18 years.

Once tipped by Tony Blair to be a future Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s election chief was close to tears as he stood on the podium to hear he had been voted out in a humiliating defeat at a highly emotional count.

The fact that he as shadow foreign secretary and an ex Labour government member was beaten by an SNP candidate who only a few years ago was at high school sent shockwaves through Britain.

And in what pundits already regard as an historic General Election, 20-year-old politics student Mhairi Black became the youngest British MP since 13-year-old Christopher Monck in 1667.

Former Secretary of State for Scotland Alexander, meanwhile was left looking for a new job.

Black managed to win the Paisley and Renfrewshire South seat by overturning Alexander’s huge majority of 16,610 he claimed in 2010. She won 23,548 votes pushing Alexander into second place with just 17,864. Turnout was 75 per cent – an increase of 10 per cent since from the 2005 General Election.

Around 1.30am it was clear that a result was forthcoming when officials asked candidates to gather. But the result was not announced until around 2.30am perhaps to give Black and Alexander time to compose themselves in the face of such a political earthquake.

In an emotional night many of Black’s supporters were in tears of joy as she delivered her triumphant speech. She congratulated the other candidates including Alexander, whom she hoped would continue to remain in politics despite his defeat and “once he had recovered”.

“I would to thank the people of this constituency for placing their faith in me and in the SNP. Whether you voted for the SNP or not, and whatever your views are on Scotland’s future are, I will seek to represent you and everyone in this constituency to the best of my ability,” she told the crowd in Paisley’s Lagoon Leisure Centre.

“This election is about making the voice of this constituency and the whole of Scotland heard more effectively at Westminster than ever before.

“I pledge to use this voice not only to improve Scotland but to pursue progressive politics for the benefit of people across the UK.”

“We want to put an end to the austerity cuts that are hurting people in communities north and south of the border… As part of a strong team of SNP MPs I will always vote against wasting £100 million on Trident… The people of Scotland are speaking and it’s time their voices were heard at Westminster.”

It was a remarkable victory for Black, who only decided to stand in January, and had throughout her campaign urged voters to make a fresh start and vote for change, and that they certainly did.

Alexander, who had arrived grim faced with his wife Jackie, ceded defeat and congratulated Black and said she had fought a “formidable” campaign.

He added: “This of course has been a very difficult night for Labour. Scotland has chosen to oppose this Conservative government, but not place that trust in the Labour party. It will be our responsibility to re-win that trust in the months and years ahead.”

Defeat, may have been bitter for the 47-year-old, but not a huge surprise after a series of polls over the past few months had predicted a massive swing to the SNP that was likely to cost him the seat.

The man in charge of Ed Miliband’s national election campaign – who had brought in key figures such as David Axelrod, the former aide to Barack Obama, as an adviser, and had modelled the campaign on the Democrats’ 2012 victory – knew he faced a huge personal battle to keep his seat.

With membership of the SNP tripling in the past six months – to more than 106,000 – the party has the third largest membership in Britain.

Alexander, 47, first became a Labour MP in November 1997 and spent more than a decade at the very top of the Labour party, surviving in senior positions under three leaders – Blair, Brown and Miliband.

Having led the failed 2010 election campaign and the unsuccessful leadership bid of David Miliband, the 2015 General Election was his last chance to prove the critics wrong.

During his career Alexander had held a number of Cabinet positions, including the Secretary of State for Transport in Blair’s Government. And when Gordon Brown replaced Blair as Prime Minister in 2007, Alexander became the Secretary of State for International Development.

In 2010, following the election of Ed Miliband as leader, Alexander was made the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. He held this position until a 2011 reshuffle, when he was appointed Shadow Foreign secretary. In October 2013, he was appointed by Miliband as the party’s chair of General Election strategy.

Over the past year or so his influence over Ed Miliband was said to be unparalleled, with the leader often heard to say: “But what does Douglas think?”

But having first been elected in 1997 – to the seat of Paisley South in a by-election brought about by the suicide of Labour’s Gordon McMaster in July that year – the dramatic loss of his seat early today made failure complete.