Scottish Tories celebrate best result in three decades

The Conservatives have achieved their best result in Scotland for three decades, toppling SNP veterans including Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the SNP losses mean a second independence referendum is now dead''.

After returning just one MP in the 2015 election, her party has gained 11 seats from the nationalists across the country.

The Conservative revival in Scotland led to the fall of major SNP figures, including former first minister and SNP leader Mr Salmond in Gordon and the party's current depute leader Mr Robertson in Moray.

The SNP's Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh was ousted in Ochil and South Perthshire by Conservative Luke Graham, while her party colleague in neighbouring Perth and North Perthshire, Pete Wishart, held on to his seat from his Tory challenger by just 21 votes after several recounts.

The SNP's chief whip at Westminster Mike Weir lost the Angus constituency which he has held since 2001.

The Conservatives took a swathe of other seats in the north east from the SNP, winning Aberdeen South, Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine, as well as Moray.

Elsewhere, Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Renfrewshire East, Stirling and Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk also turned from yellow to blue.

Ms Davidson told the BBC: There was one big issue in this campaign and that was Nicola Sturgeon trying to ram through a second independence referendum in March and the country's reaction to that.

And I think we've seen the country's reaction in the number of SNP seats that have fallen.

Indyref2 is dead. That's what's happened tonight.''