 | 'On a dramatic night, the third safest Labour seat in Scotland went to the Nationalists on a 22% swing, enabling the SNP's John Mason to beat his main rival Margaret Curran by overturning a 13,507 Labour majority and securing victory by a margin of just 365 votes. Turnout was unexpectedly high at 42%. The victor described the result as "an epic win".' Michael Settle in the Herald, 23 rd July 2008. |  |
Gordon Brown should face a challenge for the Labour leadership this autumn in light of the party's humiliating by-election defeat to the SNP in Glasgow East, a trade union leader insisted yesterday.
The call came as a triumphant Alex Salmond declared that his party had now demonstrated that "there are no safe seats for the Labour Party anywhere in Scotland".
Paul Kenny, General Secretary of the GMB, described the poll result as an "unmitigated disaster" and challenged Labour MPs by saying: "We can't muddle on to a massive defeat at the next General Election. All this whispering behind the scenes must stop and you either back him or sack him."
Pointing out how only MPs could spark a leadership ballot this autumn, he added: "They need to decide what to do. It's either put up or shut up."
Manchester Labour MP Graham Stringer called for Mr Brown's Cabinet to tell him the UK Government could not carry on as it was. "We need a new start and that can only come from a debate around the leadership. I hope those discussions will take place. It really is a question of whether the Labour Party has the will to win the next General Election."
Lord Desai, the Labour peer, said the Brown government was like "watching a crash in slow motion", adding: "He has to admit that he is the problem and he has to remove himself."
However, Tony Lloyd, chairman of Labour's MPs, insisted there were "very few voices" in the party who wanted a change of leadership. "The answer to this isn't looking for Gordon Brown's scalp," he insisted.
For his part, the Prime Minister brushed aside the prospect of a leadership challenge, declaring: "I'm getting on with the job." He was equally dismissive of a call for an autumn General Election by David Cameron, the Conservative leader.
"My task is to get on with the job of taking us through these difficult economic times," he stressed.
However earlier in the day, surrounded by ecstatic supporters at the Glasgow Fort shopping centre, Alex Salmond challenged the PM, saying: "Change your policy or change your job - that's the message from Glasgow East to Gordon Brown."
He later insisted what the Prime Minister needed to do was put together an "anti-recessionary strategy" by changing fiscal policy and expanding demand in the economy with selective cuts in fuel and energy costs.
Last night, Labour's hugely embarrassing loss in a hitherto Scottish stronghold was compounded by an opinion poll, which showed that the party had slumped to a 22-point deficit behind the Conservatives, a record low in a ComRes survey. Conducted on the eve of and on the day of the Glasgow East ballot, it put the Tories on 46%, Labour on 24%, and the Liberal Democrats on 18%. If repeated at a General Election, the result would give Mr Cameron a landslide majority of 236 MPs.
On a dramatic night, the third safest Labour seat in Scotland went to the Nationalists on a 22% swing, enabling the SNP's John Mason to beat his main rival Margaret Curran by overturning a 13,507 Labour majority and securing victory by a margin of just 365 votes. Turnout was unexpectedly high at 42%. The victor described the result as "an epic win".
It also saw the Tories leapfrog the Liberal Democrats into third place, leaving Nick Clegg's party with the ignominy of a lost deposit.
It was perhaps not the best day for senior LibDem Ross Finnie to launch his campaign for the party's Scottish leadership. He admitted his party's message had become "blurred" and lacked a "distinctive Liberal Democrat edge".
As Cabinet ministers took to the airwaves to support Mr Brown, the Prime Minister visited Labour's National Policy Forum at Warwick University near Coventry to rally dispirited party officials.
He promised to "do whatever is necessary over the next few months to help hard-working families through these difficult times".
He also confirmed he was looking to go to the country at the last possible moment - summer 2010 - by warning how he "did not want to wake up 24 months from now" and see a Tory government destroying Labour's achievements.
However, Tony Woodley from Unite called for a change of political approach, saying that Glasgow East should mark the end of Blairism. He called for the PM to consider slapping a windfall tax of billions of pounds on the oil companies.
Dave Prentis of Unison also insisted it could "not be business as usual" and demanded a change of policy, including "ditching a privatisation agenda that failed in the 80s and 90s".
In their defence of Mr Brown, his Cabinet colleagues differed in the strength of their endorsements. Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, insisted his fellow Scot was the "best Prime Minister" and the "best leader of our party".
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