A SERIES of high-profile casualties fell victim to an unprecedented SNP landslide in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Among the Labour ranks, Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander were the most high profile scalps claimed by the nationalists.

Both congratulated their opponents, with Mr Alexander, the architect of the UK party's campaign, admitting that Mhairi Black had won a "handsome victory".

Tom Clarke, who has represented Coatbridge since the early-1980s, won the largest majority of any MP just a decade ago. But the veteran, who in the run-up to the vote insisted he would retain his seat comfortably, lost by more than 10,000 votes to Phil Boswell.

Elsewhere, shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex lost by a similar margin in Rutherglen and Hamilton West. Labour put a huge effort into shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran's re-election bid in Glasgow East, raising eyebrows among many observers. She was rejected spectacularly by the voters though, also losing by a margin of more than 10,000. Ian Davidson also lost his seat in Glasgow South West, before promptly calling for his party leader to resign live on TV.

Willie Bain was seen as the most likely of Glasgow's Labour MPs to cling on, but he also lost his seat by a landslide. Anas Sarwar until recently was deputy leader of the Scottish Labour party, and was campaign co-ordinator of the Labour Party campaign for the independence referendum. He lost by around 8,000 votes in Glasgow Central.

In 2010 Pamela Nash became the 'baby of the house' when she was elected in Airdrie and Shotts. She could have been forgiven for looking forward to a long parliamentary career after winning comfortably in the safe Labour seat, but was convincingly defeated after just one term.

Cathy Jamieson, former MP in Kilmarnock and Loudoun, was deputy leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament from 2000 until June 2008.

It was not just Labour that suffered catastrophic losses. Both Jo Swinson, previously the equalities minister, and Danny Alexander, ex-chief secretary to the treasury, may have been considering a bid for the Liberal Democrat leadership had they hung on, but both were swept away by the SNP tide.

Ms Swinson, who the LibDems had been hopeful would keep her East Dunbartonshire seat, lost by just over 2,000 votes. Mr Alexander, meanwhile, was defeated by a far wider margin of around 10,000.

Former party leader, Charles Kennedy, also lost with the party's Scottish MPs reducing from 11 to one. Michael Moore, the former Scottish Secretary, was booted out in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, coming a distant third behind the SNP and the Tories. Alistair Carmichael, proved the only Lib Dem to retain his seat, scraping by with a majority of less than 1,000.