David Cameron spells out devolution commitment

While Mr Cameron pledged to give Holyrood ''important powers over taxation'', the Conservative leader does not appear to be offering any substantial new devolution.

The official Twitter channel for the Prime Minister's office confirmed the two leaders have now spoken after the watershed General Election left the UK divided, with the Tories winning an unexpected majority across the UK, but north of the border the SNP saw its tally of MPs surge from six five years ago.

Ms Sturgeon said she "made it clear" to Mr Cameron that "it cannot be business as usual" during the brief conversation today.

Speaking on STV News, the SNP leader said: "Scotland didn't just vote in small numbers for a different party. Some of the swings we saw across Scotland were unprecedented in Westminster political history. Scotland decisively voted against austerity and for an alternative approach.

"I briefly spoke to the Prime Minister this afternoon and made it clear that it cannot be business as usual, the democratic will of the Scottish people as expressed in that election yesterday has to be recognised."

Labour, which had taken 41 seats north of the border in 2010, was left with just one Scottish MP, with Scottish party leader Jim Murphy and election campaign chief Douglas Alexander among those who lost their seats.

While Ed Miliband announced he is stepping down as UK leader of the party, Mr Murphy insisted he will stay in his job in Scotland in a bid to rebuild his ailing party.

In an unprecedented night for the SNP, it took all seven of the seats in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, with shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran among the losers there.

Former leader Alex Salmond was returned to Westminster as the new MP for Gordon after seizing the constituency from the Liberal Democrats.

Talking about her conversation with the Prime Minister, Ms Sturgeon said: "It was a brief call. It was an opportunity for me to congratulate him, I didn't want him to be Prime Minister again but he has won the election and I congratulated him. He was gracious to congratulate the SNP on our success. We will meet as soon as possible and discuss these issues in more detail but I made it clear, it can't be business as usual.

"I wanted an anti-Tory majority and the polls suggested there would be an anti-Tory majority - I made clear if that had been the outcome I would have wanted to work with Ed Miliband to have him in Downing Street rather than David Cameron. Ed Miliband had seemed unsure if he would have wanted to do that, but that now is academic. I think that is regrettable but it's not to do with what happened in Scotland - even if Labour had held all of their Scottish seats yesterday they still wouldn't have done enough in England to beat the Tories.

"I said during the election that this election wasn't about independence and it wasn't a vote for a second referendum. I said very explicitly and directly to voters across Scotland that if you vote for the SNP I will not take your vote as an endorsement of independence. I am not going to turn my back on that, I'm going to stick to my word. If there is ever another referendum in Scotland on independence that will only come about if people vote for that in a Scottish Parliament election. Yesterday's election was a vote to make Scotland's voice heard at Westminster."

Senior figures from the Lib Dems were also ousted in the nationalist landslide, with Danny Alexander, who had been chief secretary to the Treasury, and former party leader Charles Kennedy both ejected from the Commons.

Ms Sturgeon's party won 50% of the votes cast in Scotland, compared to just 20% in 2010. In comparison Labour saw its share of the vote fall to 24%, with the Conservatives on just under 15% in Scotland and the Lib Dems on 7.5%.

Labour's Ian Murray managed to retain his Edinburgh South seat in the face of the SNP tsunami, as did Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael, who held on to Orkney and Shetland with a reduced share of the vote.

David Mundell, who was Scotland's only Conservative MP in 2010, is still the single Tory representative north of the border.

As the results came in Mr Salmond declared that the ''Scottish lion has roared''.

Ms Sturgeon said: ''The political firmament, the tectonic plates in Scottish politics have shifted. What we are seeing is a historic watershed.''

After returning to Downing Street, Mr Cameron said he would ''stay true to my word'' and implement plans for further devolution that have already been drawn up ''as fast as I can''.

He stated: ''Governing with respect means recognising that the different nations of our United Kingdom have their own governments as well as the United Kingdom government.

''Both are important and indeed with our plans, the governments of these nations will become more powerful with wider responsibilities.

''In Scotland, our plans are to create the strongest devolved government anywhere in the world, with important powers over taxation.''

Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander, who was chief secretary to the Treasury in the coalition, was the most senior member of the government to lose his seat as Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey fell to the nationalists.

With some constituencies showing swings to the SNP of more than 30%, Douglas Alexander, Labour's election campaign chief and shadow foreign secretary, was the first big scalp of the night.

Student Mhairi Black, 20, beat the former government minister in Paisley and Renfrewshire South to become the youngest MP in the House of Commons since 1667.

In Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, which had been the safest Labour seat in Scotland, the SNP easily overturned a majority of more than 23,000 to capture the constituency which had been held by former prime minister Gordon Brown, who had stood down from Parliament.

Afterwards a defiant Mr Murphy rejected calls for his resignation, arguing that Labour in Scotland had been ''overwhelmed by history and by circumstance''.

He said the election campaign had been ''the biggest challenge in our 127-year history'', coming in the wake of last year's independence referendum and the SNP's back to back victories at Holyrood in 2007 and 2011.

Mr Murphy insisted: ''As leader I wanted to meet these challenges and I still do.''

But with the Scottish Labour leader now not holding elected office at either Holyrood or Westminster, questions will be asked about how long he can continue in the role.

Mr Murphy was elected to the job just five months ago after his predecessor, Johann Lamont, quit, accusing the party in London of treating Scotland like a ''branch office''.

Asked today if he still believes he could be first minister after next May's Scottish Parliament election, Mr Murphy said: ''Yes.''

He conceded the election had been ''a dreadful night'', but said: ''Far worse than that we are waking up on a terrible morning for Scotland and for working-class people across the UK as David Cameron prepares to form another government.

''The friends and colleagues that were defeated last night had been faithful servants to our party and forceful advocates for their constituents.

''But this isn't about them and it isn't about us. This isn't about individual careers, because, while we have lost seats, the thing that hurts most is the loss of hope faced with another five years of a government totally lacking in compassion, and totally lacking in vision.''

Asked whether Mr Cameron would have to offer Scotland fiscal autonomy, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told BBC2's Newsnight : "I think David Cameron was, in a way, saying that.

"I think it was very significant that in his acceptance speech in his own constituency and his speech on the steps of Number 10, he talked so much about preserving the union.

"The words he used were that he would give more autonomy to Scotland than any other part or region anywhere in the world."