The result was never really in any doubt.
With Stewart Hosie and Chris Law holding majorities of more than 19,000 and 17,000 in Dundee East and West respectively it would have taken an unprecedented result to unseat either man. To put it simply, they just don’t build swing-o-meters that big.
Instead, both held their seats comfortable, albeit diminished, majorities.
The reasons for this are not hard to fathom: the 2015 result was unprecedented and unlikely to ever be repeated while turnout was also down yesterday.
Nevertheless, both of the city’s MPs were beaming when it became apparent they would be retaining their seats.
Following on from the SNP’s success in last month’s local government elections it is clear Dundee is still, three years after the independence referendum, Scotland’s Yes City.
But it’s also a city with a growing No suburb which is why the Conservatives were also grinning from ear-to-ear in the early hours of Friday morning.
Eleanor Price came second in Dundee East, knocking Labour’s Lesley Brennan into third place by some 600 votes.
Small margins to be sure, but it’s still a remarkable result.
Dundee East has yo-yoed between the SNP and Labour for years while Dundee West was Labour for decades before 2015. The Tories, by comparison, were never a serious proposition in Dundee and that has now changed, although there is still a lot of ground to make up.
It’s clear that for some voters the prospect of another independence referendum is enough to do the previously unthinkable and vote Tory. Even in Dundee.
