THE SNP stunned the Tories with a major coup yesterday by overturning their majority in a seat they had held for more than 20 years. Siobhian Brown scooped the Ayr constituency from the incumbent Tory John Scott, who had held it since 2000.

She overturned his 750-vote majority by 18,881 votes to 18,711 – an advantage of 170 votes. Scottish Labour were well out of the running with 4766 votes and the LibDems even further behind with just 808. Turnout in the constituency was 68%.

However, Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie managed to hold on to the SNP target seat of Dumbarton winning 17,825 votes – with the SNP’s Toni Giugliano close behind with 16,342.

Ayr was another major target seat for the SNP, and had been held by Scott almost since the start of the Scottish Parliament. He will now leave Holyrood as he does not have a place on the Tory list.

After her sensational victory, Brown tweeted: “WOW!! What can I say but THANK YOU to every single person who has voted.

“I promise to work tirelessly to improve our constituency and Scotland. Yours for Scotland, Siobhian.”

Among the first to congratulate her was political ally Councillor Shaun Macaulay, who wrote: “You deserve it Siobhian! What a star – the woman who turned Ayr yellow!”

The Wee Crafty Unicorn tweeted: “Thank you Siobhian, you deserved this. We are a family of 15 in Ayr who were once staunch @ScotTories voters and we voted @theSNP for the first time in our lives yesterday. We are delighted to hear you won!!! Gaun yersel.”

And expat Scot Pablo Amor added: “Well done Siobhian ... I’m an Ayrshire boy living in Spain and was always ashamed that my local constituency was a conservative ‘stronghold’. Great efforts by you & your team. Brilliant!!”

Earlier yesterday, the SNP took their first seat from another party – East Lothian – which was held by former Labour leader Iain Gray until he retired this year. Paul McLennan, a former leader of East Lothian Council, won 17,968 votes on a turnout of 69%.

Gray had boasted a majority of 1127 in the constituency, but a 2.58% swing saw that shift to a 1179-vote lead for the SNP.

The former Labour chief retired after more than a decade in the role and was among the first to congratulate his successor, alongside former Labour MP Martin Whitfield, who finished second in the poll.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar said there was no point in denying his disappointment at the East Lothian result, particularly for candidate Whitfield.

He sadi: “But again, look at where we were 10 weeks ago – we were at 14% in the opinion polls and coming fourth. Even my biggest critics can see that over the course of the last 10 weeks we’ve got the Labour Party back on the pitch.

“I think people can see that I’m a different kind of leader, trying to build a different kind of party, and together rebuild a different kind of country.”