WATCH: John Lamont MSP welcomes No vote in Borders

Speaking in Kelso immediately after the Borders result was declared, the Conservative MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire said: “It has been a very energetic campaign. I’m very pleased there has been a No vote. The Yes campaign will be bitterly disappointed.”

Mr Lamont said cross-border concerns persuaded more Scottish Borderers to reject independence.

He said: “We are on the frontline and people were going to feel the consequences of breaking away from the United Kingdom. We don’t see the border. Our families and our work transcends the border. Making the border more real was always going to make us more reluctant to vote Yes.”

He added: “We need to move on now with governing Scotland and not having this big constitutional debate. There are other things we need to be getting on with.”