 | 'SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, MP for Moray, who played a major role in the campaign, taunted Mr Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling with having been frightened to come to the area.' David Perry in the Press & Journal, 25 th July 2008. |  |
| 'SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, MP for Moray, who played a major role in the campaign, taunted Mr Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling with having been frightened to come to the area.' David Perry in the Press & Journal, 25 th July 2008. | |
The SNP swept in to seize Glasgow East early today in the biggest political earthquake in more than a decade.
Labour's third safest seat in Scotland - one of its top 25 in the UK - fell to a vibrant nationalist onslaught personally headed by First Minister Alex Salmond, who visited the constituency a dozen times.
Despite the Glasgow Fair fortnight, SNP candidate John Mason, a local councillor, defeated Labour's Margaret Curran, a member of the Scottish Parliament, by 11,277 votes to 10,912, a majority of 365, overturning a Labour majority of 13,507.
The sensational - the SNP claimed "historic" - result followed a high by-election turnout of 42%.
It raised an immediate questionmark over the future of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, strengthening calls among backbenchers for him to go sooner rather than later to give his successor time to win back public support before a general election which has to take place by May, 2010.
He will now have to spend the summer preparing a fightback at Labour's autumn party conference.
In his victory speech, Mr Mason said the result would have a "huge impact" and be felt "all the way to Downing Street". He said: "Three weeks ago the SNP predicted a political earthquake. This SNP victory is not just a political earthquake, it is off the Richter scale. It is an epic win, and the tremors are being felt all the way to Downing Street."
He said the "dead hand" of Labour control was being removed from Scotland.
"Labour MPs across Scotland will be quaking in their boots," Mr Mason added. "The East End has sent a powerful message - a message that is right now resonating in Downing Street."
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson, MP for Moray, who played a major role in the campaign, taunted Mr Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling with having been frightened to come to the area.
Scotland Minister David Cairns said the outcome was the result of the SNP's plea to voters to "send a message" to the UK government and was not a verdict on the Brown administration at Westminster.
Bur Mr Robertson said this showed "Labour still has not got it" and claimed it was the result of frustration among ordinary Scots at living in an oil-rich nation with the highest fuel prices in Europe.
The election was caused by the resignation of former MP David Marshall because of ill health.
It was a pending disaster for Labour from the start, with the preferred candidate pulling out at the last minute and the lack of a Scottish Labour leader in Holyrood following the resignation of former leader Wendy Alexander.
The Tories sought to benefit, with leader David Cameron personally campaigning for candidate Davena Rankin to "prove" there are now no "no-go areas" for the Conservatives in mainland UK.
If the performance was repeated at a General Election, Mr Brown himself would lose in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, and a slew of top Cabinet ministers would also be kicked out of the Commons.
According to calculations by the Press Association, Mr Brown, Mr Darling, Defence Secretary Des Browne, and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander would have lost their seats if such a swing were repeated at a general election.
The swing was just over 22% - making it the biggest by-election upset in Labour's Scottish heartlands since the loss of Glasgow Govan in 1988.
The result was delayed after Labour requested a recount of the ballots, but eventually the nationalists' margin of victory went up.
To make matters worse for Mr Brown, the Tories also put in a strong performance by leapfrogging the Lib Dems to come third.
Glasgow East had been Labour's third safest seat in Scotland, and 25th safest in the UK.
Mr Brown will now have to face Labour's policy forum in Warwick today with recriminations in full swing. The defeat will also overshadow his talks with US presidential candidate Barack Obama tomorrow.
Even before the result was declared, SNP candidate John Mason was given a hero's welcome as he arrived at the count.
SNP Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the swing towards her party as "epic", and said it had been a "tremendously good" night.
The Glasgow East constituency was born from boundary changes in 2005 which saw the number of Scottish seats drop from 72 to 59.
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