DAVID Cameron might well be back in Downing Street later today but it could be a bittersweet moment; the stratospheric rise of the SNP may mean he will be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The future of the Union will once again take centre stage at Westminster in the wake of the predicted outcome of a Nationalist rout in Scotland. Alex Salmond made clear on the back of the predictions that David Cameron now had "no legitimacy" in Scotland.
As England looks to move to the Right, Scotland shifts to the Left. If the 300-year-old partnership is to survive, then something has to be done.
If the exit poll is right, then the SNP will become Britain's third party with a major presence on the green benches, more responsibility and millions more pounds in UK tax-payer support.
For many, David Cameron's victory was based on the "Ajockalypse Now!" fear factor of a Lab-SNP alliance amid claims that he played to English nationalism with, among other things, the proposal for Evel, English votes for English laws.
Tristram Hunt, the Shadow Education Secretary, accused the Prime Minister of "playing fast and loose" with the Union, putting party before country, and that the Tory Party had been peddling "ugly sentiments" towards Scotland, which could have damaging consequences.
Amid all the fall-out, one result looks like the removal of the last Conservative MP for Scotland. The Tories hoped that their championing of the Unionist cause in the independence referendum campaign would enhance their fortunes; it looks like it hasn't.
The cause for the Union will be made all the harder by the fact that a future Scottish Secretary of State in a Tory government will be from an English constituency albeit a Scot, say, Michael Gove or Michael Fallon.
The image of the Secretary of State being a visiting viceroy in a white suit and pith helmet will be played upon by the Conservatives' opponents. Whoever gets the role, will have his work cut out.
If it is a virtual clean sweep for the Nationalists, Mr Cameron's Unionism is going to be sorely tested in the new parliament.
Lord Strathclyde, the Scottish Tory peer and former Leader of the Lords, insisted saving the Union was "the number one priority" for the new government because of the rise of the SNP.
He argued the next UK administration would have to find new ways of "bringing the people of the United Kingdom together".
The interesting intervention by Boris Johnson the other day when he mentioned the f-word, federalism, possibly points to a new line in the sand for defenders of Unionism; that is, to stop Scotland splitting from the UK, a federal system might begin to be proposed by more politicians at Westminster as the only way forward.
Interestingly if the Tories do fall short of a majority and decide to do a deal with the Democratic Unionists, one of their demands is to have a commission on the future of the Union and how to strengthen it.
But it could all now be too late.
Nicola Sturgeon who will strut the Westminster stage this weekend will be determined to build on the momentum that the SNP is building; having won a landslide at Holyrood in 2011 and now predicted to win another at Westminster in 2015.
How impossible is it now for her not to include a commitment to hold a second referendum in Scotland in the SNP's 2016 Holyrood manifesto? The pressure from within her party will be immense and almost certainly irresistable.
She will probably wait until after the planned 2017 EU referendum to hold another poll but the trigger, the "material change", could come before that in the Commons vote to renew Trident. This is due, coincidentally, in early 2016; that is, in the run-up to the Scottish parliamentary elections.
A second referendum in spring 2018 might now be odds-on; Mr Cameron might flinch at having to fight the same battle all over again. But with the SNP surge, his chances of pulling off another victory look much worse.
His epitaph as the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom could still be written.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article