DOUGLAS Ross. Jacob Rees-Mogg. Liz Truss. Penny Mordaunt. They, and countless more, lost –they deserved to lose. It felt good.

Fourteen years of greedy Tory charlatans running the place into the ground. Our economy thwarted, budgets decimated, social mobility crushed, devolution disrespected, the most vulnerable people in our society demonised … all while the very richest lined their pockets. Their departure is welcome, but it should have come sooner.

Not that Scotland could have helped to make a difference, of course. That it took endless Tory scandals combined with a resurgent far-right in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK to get these grifters out of office is a reminder of just how little power Scotland has in this Union.

READ MORE: General Election 2024 result: Which SNP MPs are out of a job?

(Image: PA)

Labour will now be celebrating their wins across England, Scotland and Wales. But for those who voted Labour with Keir Starmer’s promises of a renewed Scottish voice at Westminster in mind, I’d remind you we’ve seen this film before. It doesn’t have a happy ending. I suspect it won’t be too long until Starmer and Anas Sarwar demonstrate why the language of “branch office” was first thrown around.

Perhaps you think we’re being too negative. That we aren’t giving Labour a chance. The point is that Labour have had many chances, many times before. The point is that under Westminster rule, the “change” promoted by Starmer and co will simply not come. Meanwhile, with Farage’s party breathing down Labour’s necks across the north of England, don’t go expecting the UK’s political landscape to shift leftwards any time soon.

READ MORE: General Election tracker: Maps and charts show Scotland results so far

For the pro-independence parties, particularly the SNP, this is the time to reflect and restructure. We know roughly half of people support independence, but where is the sense of urgency in party messaging?

The UK media will now line up their talking heads to make the case that independence is dead. They will argue that the Scottish people have roundly rejected it. We KNOW that is not true. Many of us will have Yes-supporting friends and family who lent their votes to Labour to get the Tories out. While we may be disappointed, and many activists may feel betrayed, we must not pin the blame on them. They are our peers who will help us once again on the road to an independent Scotland.

Independence support is as strong as ever, and that absolutely terrifies the established parties and legacy media. They don’t understand it and they refuse to try to. In The National, Scotland has a prominent media voice which will always put independence at the heart of everything we do. We will continue to stand up for the huge percentage of Scots who know that Westminster has absolutely nothing left to offer them, regardless of the rosette sported by the man at the despatch box.

We will never stop pushing for an independent Scotland, and we know you won’t either. Let’s use this stop on the road to a better future to refresh the arguments for a new generation of independence voters. It’s an opportunity for a new start – and The National promises to be the platform where those important conversations can take place. There were always going to be peaks and valleys on this journey. Now, we move forward.