IT was a by-election no party wanted, and in particular the SNP.
The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse vote was called because of a tragedy. In March, long-serving SNP MSP Christina McKelvie died after a long battle with cancer.
The best thing the party could have hoped for was to retain the seat, and for a while it looked as if that was what was going to happen.
Candidate Katy Loudon had told reporters on Tuesday that she was delivering a message of hope, and there was a quiet confidence amid the SNP camp that while this might be tight, it’ll be alright on the night.
As the night drew on, it became clear that while Reform were going to do well, their performance was not going to match the hype they had created around themselves. Fairly early on, there was an acceptance they would be coming third.
For Labour and the SNP though, word began to spread as the result drew nearer that all was not quite as scripted.
When the win for Labour’s Davy Russell was confirmed, it sent shockwaves through the room. They had beaten the SNP by more than 600 votes.
But within minutes of the Labour victory, the room became devoid of SNP presence. They all vanished into the night, no doubt embarrassed, stunned, bewildered.
This was not the fitting tribute they would’ve wanted to give Christina. The loss of their treasured colleague painfully compounded by the loss of a parliamentary seat.
As the SNP crew made a swift exit, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was surrounded by reporters as he spoke of an “incredible night” where they had proven pundits, journalists and bookies wrong.
He tore into “elitist and classist” comments Russell had faced throughout the campaign, and was able to revel in getting one over Reform after the racist attack they threw at him in a Facebook advert.
Sarwar was defiant and he will no doubt sleep well tonight, having stuck it to the doubters.
John Swinney, however, will face a tough wake-up tomorrow.
What does this say about the SNP? Labour’s popularity has plummeted since Keir Starmer came to power, and yet they still could not hold onto a seat they had held since it was created in 2011. Does he have any answers?
The First Minister congratulated Russell immediately on social media, saying Loudon fought a “superb” campaign but the SNP had "work to do".
It's a lot more than that. Some serious soul-searching will be required. SNP figures have told me throughout the campaign the reception they’ve been getting on the doorstep has improved immeasurably since last summer, but that is a low bar to be working up from.
This result suggests the SNP have a fight on their hands ahead of Holyrood 2026, and perhaps that’s a good thing. While Labour revel in their glory, they have won on just under a third of the vote.
Labour will make a much bigger deal out of this result than it actually warrants.
Meanwhile, from my experience, nothing focuses the mind like a good old humbling. For the SNP, it’s time to put on a brave face, and use the pain of this defeat to come back stronger.
