 | 'The SNP gained a share of the vote which, at a general election, would see the Nationalists virtually sweeping the boards in the north-east, taking all three Aberdeen seats and the two Dundee constituencies from Labour.' David Scott and Frank Urquhart in the Scotsman, 28 th November 1998. |  |
Downing Street want assurances that Labour will get its act together before next year's Scottish Parliament election.
Labour's dismal showing - finishing third behind the beleaguered Tories - has set the alarm bells ringing.
The set-back follows Tony Blair's recent visit and an opinion poll which showed that Labour were back in the lead in the race for Holyrood.
Scottish Labour party bosses had almost completed detailed battle plans, right down to key tactics and even the personnel they would use.
They will now have to review them and the result will be scrutinised by the Scottish election think tank, which includes Scots Secretary Donald Dewar, his deputy Helen Liddell, Devolution Minister Henry McLeish, general secretary Alex Rowley and Chancellor Gordon Brown.
They will identify lessons which need to be learned, and take steps to make sure Labour does not make the same mistakes next year.
Opinion polls, including an exclusive Daily Record survey published today, have consistently shown Labour ahead in recent weeks and Tony Blair will want to make sure they stay ahead.
SNP Leader Alex Salmond said the result was an "utter humiliation" for Labour after visits to Scotland by the Prime Minister, Chancellor and "puppet master Peter Mandelson".
Mr Hudghton, the leader of Angus Council, polled 57,445 votes, a 48 per cent share of the vote and a majority of 33,701 over the other parties. The late Dr Macartney's majority at the last election, with a turnout of 38 per cent compared with yesterday's 20.5 per cent turnout, was 31,227.
Kathleen Walker Shaw, the Labour candidate, was ashen-faced as the results were declared at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. She refused to comment on whether she regarded the result as a personal humiliation after her flawed campaign or a disaster for Labour north of the Border.
She said: "I put the result down to a very low turnout. I think it would be dangerous for any party to draw conclusions from this result."
Struan Stevenson, the Conservative candidate, declared from the platform: "The Scottish Tories are on the way back. Labour has been humiliated in north-east Scotland.
"The tide has turned and although we have still a lot of our votes to consolidate and a lot of support to win back, people up here in the north-east during this campaign have begun to recognise that we are a completely reformed party with new Scottish policies, made in Scotland, and dynamic new ideas."
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