On Thursday evening, I took the train from Glasgow to Wishaw for the North Lanarkshire count. Once the safest Labour seat in Great Britain, I wanted to see the results come in for my hometown of Coatbridge, one of the seats least likely to go SNP.

But then again, that prediction was according to the pollsters, not the people chapping on doors.

See, as far as I can tell, Coatbridge is often underestimated; swept aside, considered among those places that would vote a monkey in, if only it wore a red rosette.

But in every conversation I had with any of my friends or family in these past months, whether they finished school or not, whether a teenager or a pensioner, the unemployed or the middle class, a Yes or No voter; every one was voting SNP.

The count was in the cavernous hall at Ravenscraig Sports Centre, fitted with bright yellow girders as if anticipating the proliferation of yellow maps in our morning newsfeeds.

Buzzing with the frenetic energy of the monumental, a flurry of yellow rosettes bounced from one end of the room to the other, smiling, hugging, rejoicing. A less buoyant team of reds sat quietly, pensively, as they hopelessly tried to make their tallies add up to a lead, floundering before the inevitable sink.

SNP candidates showed quiet confidence, with Phil Boswell MP saying discretely that this time, "its important not to be arrogant. But we're romping it! In Coatbridge!".

Labour candidates were notable in their absence.

Labour heartlands; that's what North Lanarkshire has been called. A once pounding, red heart of Scottish industry, now blackened and beaten from successive Tory governments.

And in one evening, these post-industrial, fringe towns became yellow. These towns, referenced only by commentators to implicate the struggle or bleak prospect of a Scottish, working class existence, chose change.

SNP critics, who rightly remain cynical of anyone who deigns themselves 'politician', are quick to pose questions to our newest establishment party.

What does 'progressive' really mean? What problems are posed by this one-party nation? What about the failures in our system which can't be blamed on Westminster?

But in places like Coatbridge, this shift away from Labour is nothing short of paradigmatic for the people; and the Labour members damning the surge in nationalism, the inquisitive critics, and the ideological sceptics, are all missing a vital statistic in their calculations of these heartlands.

See, this was not necessarily about a nationalist essentialism, the integrity of 'Tartan Tories', or a change in corporation tax policy. The victory speeches may have been near identical, but North Lanarkshire went SNP because of a subtext that addresses what these communities have been waiting to hear.

The SNP promise a fight. They promise representation. They promise to believe in Labour heartlands, when they've become so used to being considered shite. They promise that things can and will be better. And they do it with ease, because no one else is.

The men and women of Labour heartlands voted SNP out of sheer will and determination for a better future, and that must be commended and built on as we move forward.

This is the story that won Scotland on May 7. And the story that did not exist in England.