FORMER Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray has held on to his East Lothian Scottish Parliament seat in style, massively increasing his majority. 

In the 2011 poll, Gray edged out the SNP's Dave Berry by just 151 votes and it was widely predicted he would lose out this time to Nationalist candidate DJ Johnston-Smith.

But Gray was re-elected with a vastly increased majority of more than 1,100 after polling 14,329 votes compared to 13,202 for his SNP rival.

The Conservatives' Rachael Hamilton finished third with 9,045 votes but was later elected to Holyrood as a regional list MSP. The Lib Dems' Ettie Spencer was a distant fourth in East Lothian with 1,337 votes.

Gray and Labour were absolutely ecstatic at their victory, on what was a tough night for the party nationwide, as the SNP won the election for a third time in a row but failed to secure an overall majority.

In his victory speech, he said he "loved East Lothian a little bit more" after his win.

He later told the Courier that tactical voting had played a part in the results across Scotland and put his own success down to campaigning on local issues.

He said: "East Lothian was a target seat for the SNP because in 2011 I held on to it with the smallest majority. Now I have a majority which is about nine times what it was then.

"We fought a very local campaign, making it very clear that the SNP government has let the county down."

In his speech, the SNP's Johnston-Smith graciously congratulated his Labour rival on his win and said they both shared a common goal of doing what was best for East Lothian.

Meanwhile, in Midlothian North & Musselburgh, it was a very succesful night for sitting MSP  Colin Beattie (SNP), who won with a heavily increased majority.

He pulled in 16,948 votes. Labour's Bernard Harkins was a distant second on 9,913, with the Conservatives' Jeremy Balfour third on 6,267 and the Lib Dems' Jacquie Bell managing 1,557.