HOURS earlier it had emerged that the UK could be heading for a Hung Parliament, so candidates and their supporters were sensing a dramatic night in prospect as they arrived for the General Election Count on Thursday night.

Ayr's Citadel Leisure Centre, which hosts the count for both the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Constituency and Central Ayrshire, was soon abuzz with atmosphere as election teams split their time between watching the vote piles mount up for their candidates, and watching results break from across the country in the adjoining TV area.

Within hours the night was not to disappoint, with the first seat declared on the night (in Rutherglen) swinging from the SNP to Labour.

And it soon became apparent that for some major political figures around the country this would become a snap election they would deeply regret.

First SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, the first of a number of SNP scalps, which were to include Alex Salmond. But also Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and several ministers from the Conservative administration.

Within the hall at the Citadel itself, a more local drama was emerging.

Quite early in the process it looked that Dr Philippa Whitford, who had held the Central Ayrshire seat for the SNP, was easing ahead of the other candidates in that seat (see over the page.)

But it became apparent that the race for the Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock constituency was to be no clear-cut affair.

With the Lib Dem candidate nowhere to be seen, it was left to the Labour, Conservative and SNP candidates and their election teams to keep a close eye as to how the night would pan out.

There were nerves on show all round from the camps of former MP Corri Wilson, who while stacking up a reasonable level of votes was by no means moving out in front like her SNP counterpart further north in the county.

How much votes would Labour's Carol Mochan attract? Would she see a similar resurgence to mirror the national picture for her party and edge near the winning post?

Or could Bill Grant, in many ways the outsider in this three horse race, pull off a shock result?

Since the redrawing of the boundaries for that seat it had been thought that no Conservative could flourish in a constituency where a large chunk of the communities retained the bitterness of the post miner-strike era. 

Could a Rankinston-born former fireman, himself the son of a miner, actually pull this off?

Just ahead of the result being declared just after 3pm, SNP supporters could be heard whispering that their gut instinct was that they had lost their seat.

But when the announcement was made, the sense of shock was palpable.

To cheers from a jubilant conservative gathering, and gasps of shock from the other parties (and even some of the Tories themselves!) it emerged that Bill Grant had sneaked up on the rail to scoot past the finishing post.

Ayr once again had a Tory MP, with a respectable vote of 18,990, ahead of Corri Wilson in second with 15,776. Labour proved not to be contenders on this occasion, with 11,024, while the Lib Dems failed to reach the 1,000 vote mark, with 872.

While the other parties were left to ponder a result, Ayr's new MP, the former Ayr West councillor, was facing a career change which he secretly admitted he too did not see coming.

But whether or not privately he was too nursing a sense of shock, he was keen to offer an olive branch to his new constituents, some of whom will never have had a Conservative MP representing them at Westminster.

Speaking from the podium, he said: "I am truly humbled to be trusted with over 18,000 votes and I will do my best to help and serve the people of Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.

"I know the area there and I am very fond of the people."