The SNP reinforced their dominant position over Labour in Scottish politics last night when they easily took the largest share of the vote in the European Parliament elections north of the Border. The Nationalists were also within a whisker of pulling off a sensational coup by winning a third seat in Brussels, out of the six available in Scotland, to add to their present two MEPs.

That ultimate SNP aim in these elections could still be realised when the Western Isles declares today, which would leave Labour down to one MEP from Scotland.

The SNP came top with an estimated 29 per cent of the ballots cast, up an astonishing 13 per cent on the last Euro-election in 2004, leaving Labour, with around 21 per cent of the popular vote, down about five per cent on 2004 and trailing in the SNP's wake in Gordon Brown's Scottish backyard.

In areas around Scotland, the Labour vote dropped dramatically, meaning that the party could not be totally confident that it had retained its present two Scottish seats in the European Parliament.

The Conservatives came a comfortable third in Scotland with around 18 per cent vote share, giving them one MEP. While allowing the party to claim that their recovery in Scotland is still under way, the Tories will be disappointed that they did not break the 20 per cent barrier. The Liberal Democrats came fourth with around 12 per cent, also giving them one MEP but a result which will not give much comfort to the party's Scottish hierarchy.

The Greens pulled off a sound performance in Scotland winning, early estimates said, around ten per cent of the vote - not enough, however, to give them the reward of sending an MEP to Brussels.

Turnout in Scotland appeared down on the 30.6 per cent achieved in 2004, with some estimates putting it as low as 27 per cent, slightly above the record low for a European election in Scotland of 24.7 in 1999. The number of Scottish seats at this election was down from the seven available in 2004 because of the need to accommodate the Eastern Europe accession states.

The final and official Scottish result will not be announced until this morning, with the delay due to the decision in the Western Isles, with its strong Sabbatarian traditions, not to declare until this morning.

But the unofficial result allows First Minister Alex Salmond's Nationalists to claim with certainty that they have built on their success in the Holyrood elections two years ago when they came into power in Scotland for the first time. Despite being in government in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP has retained its popularity and Scottish voters were prepared to give the party a vote of confidence.

The first sign that it was going to be a chastening night for Scottish Labour came when the first local result was declared in Orkney, Britain's most northerly parliamentary constituency. Labour came an astonishing sixth behind their three mainstream rivals as well as the Greens and UKIP.

The SNP was increasingly confident as the night developed of winning in South Lanarkshire, until now a solid Labour heartland, and also in Fife, where Mr Brown has his constituency, his home and his Scottish political base; here Labour only squeaked into first place by 0.2 per cent of the overall vote. Labour also lost to the SNP in East Lothian, the Holyrood seat of Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, and to the Tories in East Renfrewshire, the constituency of Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary.

Labour also lost out heavily to the SNP in both Dundee and Edinburgh. In the south-west constituency in the capital - Chancellor Alistair Darling's seat - Labour came third behind the SNP and the Tories.

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