Cunninghame North has chosen Kenny Gibson as its MSP for a further five years after a decisive win in the constituency elections for the SNP.

Local SNP candidate Kenneth Gibson romped to a huge victory in the Cunninghame North election with a majority of 6,117 in the most one-sided counts for decades, with a vote of 15,539 - a massive swing to the SNP from 2007 when the the pair were separated by just 48 votes. Second placed Allan Wilson of the Labour Party came in with 9422.

Speaking to the 'News', Kenny said: "The last time was the first time the SNP had ever won a seat in the West of Scotland and now the first time the SNP have ever held a seat in the West of Scotland; and I hope that my colleagues will do the same in five years hence." "People can compare the record of my predeccessor and myself because both having served and obvioulsy they liked what they saw and that is why the SNP have been re-elected." Conservative candidate Maurice Golden polled 4,032 votes while Liberal Democrat Mallika Punukollu managed just 543 votes.

It was announced that some 29,662 people in the constituency had gone to the polls, representing a 52.5 per cent turnout.