East Renfrewshire turnout set to top 2010 UK high

Jim Murphy’s East Renfrewshire seat is expected to have one of the highest turnouts in the UK with 77.3 per cent of the electorate turning out to vote.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy arrives to cast his vote in the 2015 General Election. Picture: PA

With the returning officer indicating we’re “close to knowing the total votes”, the parties are expecting turnout to top 2010’s UK-leading 77.3 per cent.

But that is unlikely to provide any further clue as to whether SNP challenger Kirsten Oswald is on course to pull off an electoral earthquake by taking her party from fourth place to topple the Scottish Labour leader, with his 10,400 majority and 51 per cent of the vote five years ago.

SNP officials here say they remain “optimistic”, but the Conservatives, whose voters have been wooed by Ms Oswald, said their supporters are more likely to have switched to Labour than the Nationalists.

Earlier this evening, bookies Ladbrokes predicted Mr Murphy was “outright favourite” to retain the seat.

So it remains to be seen whether he will go against the grain a second time and win - after increasing his majority by more than half at the last election at the expense of the hopeful Tories, whilst the Labour Party plunged to defeat.