Perthshire’s Rory Stewart has admitted he was “completely wrong” after boldly claiming Kamala Harris would easily defeat Donald Trump.
The ex-Tory MP was so confident the Republicans would be defeated he would have bet £100,000 on the result if betting sites permitted it.
The political confident even told punters to lump money on a Democrat victory, saying it would be the “rational thing” to do.
Mr Stewart insisted polls predicting Ms Harris might lose were wrong, claimed Mr Trump had “lost ground” since his first victory, and said Joe Biden’s administration had performed well.
Instead he was left humiliated as the former Republican President staged a remarkable comeback four years after he was booted out of office.
Mr Stewart, whose family have a home in Crieff, is now best known for hosting The Rest Is Politics podcast with Alastair Campbell.
Reacting afterwards, he said the result was a “devastating body blow”.
And he admitted his certainty the Democrats would win were mostly rooted in an optimistic belief Americans would reject Mr Trump.
“I think I was wrong because I’m an optimist,” he said.
“You can align yourself with the worst instincts of humanity, or you can hope.
“My bet on Kamala Harris was a bet on the American people.”
Mr Stewart had family who lived in Kirriemuir and was born in Hong Kong while his dad Brian, a British colonial official, worked there.
He briefly served in the Black Watch and was also a tutor to Prince William and Prince Harry while studying at Oxford University.
The ex-MP, who left Westminster in 2019, is not the only politically-minded Tayside figure who will be highly disappointed with what happened.
Dundee-born actor Brian Cox tore into Mr Trump last night hours before the result was called, branding him a “monster”.
Conversation