The Scottish Conservative victory in the Aberdeen South by-election wasn’t entirely unexpected. New MP Douglas Lumsden is a well-known local figure who ran a savvy campaign pledging to fight for an oil and gas industry abandoned by the SNP. He was always thought to be in with a shout.

The real surprise of the night was the scale of the SNP’s defeat. During the final days of campaigning, Tory sources were willing to admit they had a degree of optimism, but nothing more.

This might just have kicked off a long-anticipated civil war in the SNP

This might just have kicked off a long-anticipated civil war in the SNP

In the end, Lumsden – a former councillor and current member of the Scottish Parliament –took 50 per cent of the vote, beating the SNP’s Richard Thomson comfortably.

Before Lumsden had finished delivering his victory speech, credit for his 6,000 plus majority was claimed on behalf of Kemi Badenoch by Conservative party chairman Kevin Hollinrake who, appearing on the BBC with Laura Kuenssberg, said this remarkable result showed she was taking the party in a ‘new direction’.

‘Her favourability came up on the doorstep,’ said Hollinrake, adding ‘it’s not often........

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