 | 'The by-election result could indicate the SNP is poised to secure half-a-dozen seats from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, radically altering the political map of the north and north-east in the general election, which must be called by May 2010' David Perry in the Press & Journal, 26 th July 2008. |  |
Jubilant First Minister Alex Salmond claimed last night that no Labour MP's seat in Scotland is safe after the SNP's stunning Glasgow East by-election triumph.
As senior ministers rallied round beleaguered Prime Minister Gordon Brown, he remained adamant that he will not bow to Tory demands for an early general election.
And as the SNP celebrated in Glasgow, Conservative leader David Cameron urged Mr Brown to "take a holiday" and then call an election.
But the premier said: "I am getting on with the job - it is what people want me to do."
He told Labour delegates at the party's national policy-making forum with union leaders in Warwick that he understood the concerns of voters about rising food and fuel prices, and promised fresh measures to help.
And he brushed aside any suggestion that his leadership was under threat.
Mr Salmond had promised a "political earthquake" in Glasgow East. In the event, the SNP overturned a 13,500 Labour majority, which the constituency's new MP John Mason described as being "off the Richter scale".
Scots in Mr Brown's Cabinet sprang to his defence.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said: "Gordon Brown is the best prime minister. He is the best leader of our party." And Scotland Secretary Des Browne said: "The party should stay united behind our leader."
Mr Salmond said the message to Mr Brown from Glasgow East voters amounted to: "Change your policy or change your job."
He added: "We have now demonstrated that there are no safe seats for Labour anywhere in Scotland."
The by-election result could indicate the SNP is poised to secure half-a-dozen seats from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, radically altering the political map of the north and north-east in the general election, which must be called by May 2010.
Aberdeen South Labour MP Anne Begg said: "There is no sense of people panicking or anything like that."
She said Mr Brown had been "excellent in giving us a vision for the future" at the policy forum and firmly denied there was any talk among delegates of replacing him as leader.
Ms Begg added: "I don't think it is an option."
Labour leaders admitted that the blow, on top of the loss of Crewe and Nantwich, Labour's humiliating fifth place at Henley-on-Thames, and the party's drubbing in the May local government and London's mayoral elections, was severe.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said it had been "a terrible result" and urged the government to listen to the voters.
He said Labour must reconnect with core supporters, not subject the public-sector workers to massive price rises while imposing a draconian pay policy.
GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said Labour MPs needed to decide quickly whether they wanted to force out Mr Brown.
Cabinet minister Ed Miliband dismissed reports that colleagues were openly discussing the possibility of asking Mr Brown to stand aside.
A national newspaper today quoted one unnamed senior minister as saying it had "moved from possible to probable" that it would happen in the wake of the defeat.
Mr Miliband said: "I do not recognise those comments from the Cabinet colleagues I talk to.
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