‘No’ lost in all but oneindyref count zones

A breakdown of the overall result shows that part of Airdrie, Shotts, Bellshill and Viewpark recorded 27,685 No to 25,795 Yes votes.

The other three zones recorded Yes majorities, with Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (and Northern Corridor areas) recording 30,821 Yes to 28,486 No votes.

However the breakdown figures are a broad indication rather than exact results, as postal votes – 14.3% of the total – were spread across the whole area.

Councillor Harry McGuigan, who represents Bellshill, denies claims that Labour voters turned their back on the party in the contest which saw the area as a whole vote for independence by 51% to 49%.

He said: “I don’t think the result in North Lanarkshire was a surprise as there is a lot of support for independence in the Cumbernauld area.”

“But this wasn’t about North Lanarkshire voting for independence - it was about Scotland, and the message from right across the country is that people want to see a strong Scotland within the UK.”

However Central Scotland MSP Richard Lyle was delighted that North Lanarkshire bucked the national trend.

The SNP man said: “I have seen e-mails from lifelong Labour voters saying they’ll never vote for the party again, whereas thousands of people are now joining the SNP.”