This British election will go down in history not for the shock margin of victory by the Conservatives but for sounding the death knell of the United Kingdom.

The Scottish Nationalist Party has surpassed all expectations by winning 56 or so of the 59 seats in Scotland up for grabs in the British parliament.

What that means, pure and simple, is another referendum on Scottish independence probably within the next five years.

While the last one failed there is clearly a massive case of buyer’s remorse among Scots. The vote next time will not be close if the 2015 election is any indication.

If a new referendum is held there seems no doubt that the Scots will vote to depart from the union. The 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain.”

Not for long more it appears.

The unionists of Northern Ireland ought to be very afraid. The United Kingdom they cling to may soon not exist.

The massive Scottish nationalist gain, up from 6 seats five years ago, is the latest manifestation of the drumbeat for independence that has swept across Scotland for the past few years.

Put succinctly – the Scots are fed up of being second class citizens, far from London, their issues ignored.

The rule of thumb is that the farther from the center the less attention. That has certainly been the case in Scotland.

Much of the Scottish drive, strangely enough dovetailed with the film “Braveheart” starring Mel Gibson, who portrayed the Scottish leader William Wallace.

“Braveheart” appeared to help channel the momentum to the Scottish nationalist movement which stalled in the latter part of the last century.

The Labour Party bastions in Scotland have fallen like ninepins and the failure to compete in the rest of Britain creates a huge issue for the party. Their decision to oppose Scottish independence has been a disaster for them.

But they may yet see defeat as a blessing in disguise.

David Cameron now has to deal with the centuries of disregard for Scottish needs, which have now reached a perfect storm for the Scottish nationalists. Will he want to be known as the Prime Minister who lost the United Kingdom?

United Kingdom no more? Nicola Sturgeon the SNP leader has vowed her party will seek a new way to deal with the overlords in London.”The tectonic plates have shifted,” she said.

That will surely mean an independent Scotland by decade's end.