Bill Jamieson: 'Stalemate' is the word on night of many shocks

DEFEAT rolled through the night like a wet fog. But of even a gleam of victory there was no sense whatever. Hours after the count began and results finally came crowding in during the wee small hours, who was winning? And where was the pattern?

Unlike any other election where the count has kept us up through the night, the longer we watched, the less clear it became as to who would be the next government. And the closer we looked, the more absent was any sense of coherent voter pattern. Results were all over the place. England was going one way, Scotland another, Wales went somewhere else altogether.

For a brief period early in the morning it looked as if the Conservative swing in north-east England seats could deliver David Cameron an overall majority. But marginal seats that should have fallen like skittles before the Tory thunderballs clung on to Labour. Yet out of nowhere a blue asteroid knocked out Lembit Opik. He and the Northern Ireland first minister Peter Robinson were the biggest casualties of the night.

In Scotland, Labour not only held back the blue advance but scored impressive gains, increasing its share of the vote and pushing back the SNP. Gordon Brown's victory speech was a continuation of the election campaign, his fingers firmly wrapped round the doorknob of No 10.

The results confirmed the Scottish Conservatives' worst fears of absolutely no progress. And of the great Liberal Democrat breakthrough there was just no sign. After all the Cleggmania, the saturation coverage, the super-hype and the arrival of the Lib Dems as the second party in British politics, the great breakthrough was a no-show.

And thus, far from a peak of climactic drama, the Night of National Resolution and Fresh Start ended with a growing confirmation of stalemate and reports that talks had already begun between Labour and the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition.

After results like these it is hard to maintain much sense of a political union in the UK when Scotland has gone in diametrically the opposite direction to its southern neighbour and Conservatives even picked up seats in Wales.

The swings in Scotland in many cases have been away from the SNP to Labour. That may be a reflection, not just of a reassertion of old political loyalties but of a Scottish middle class whose fortunes are ever more dependent on maintained public spending. Scotland may be going in a different direction from England, but not in a manner that gives any comfort to Alex Salmond and the SNP.

And in the background could be heard the approaching thunder of another global financial storm. Fevered discussions to resolve a hung parliament will take place this morning against a background of financial markets crashing on fears of a debt default contagion.

Whatever the outcome, an early emergency Budget looks increasingly likely.

What also looks likely is an outcome that will make even the keenest political nerd this morning turn weary: another election within a year.