Pressure on Brown in Glenrothes by-election
Voters go to the polls in Glenrothes today as Gordon Brown’s government faces another electoral test.
The key seat sees a two-horse battle between the Scottish National party (SNP) and Labour, whose MP John MacDougall died earlier this year triggering the by-election.
At the 2005 general election Mr MacDougall won 51.9 per cent of the vote, compared to the SNP in second place with 23.4 per cent. The Liberal Democrats were third.
This represented a majority of over 10,000 voters but, following Labour’s humiliating loss of Glasgow East earlier this year, which saw a 13,507 majority overturned, many expected the SNP to triumph again.
Polls in October saw the SNP ahead but the race appeared to narrow as Mr Brown won credit for his handling of the international financial crisis.
In recent days Labour have begun to struggle, however, with the SNP becoming increasingly confident they will take the seat.
A loss for Labour would be a serious blow for Mr Brown, who has recently seen a slight recovery in the polls in the ‘Brown bounce’. He broke prime ministerial convention by campaigning in person in the constituency last month.
Lindsay Roy is standing for Labour while the SNP have put forward Peter Grant for the seat.
Other candidates include Morag Balfour (Scottish Socialists), Maurice Golden (Conservative), Kris Seunarine (Ukip), Louise McLeary (Solidarity) and Jim Parker (Scottish Senior Citizens Unity party).
politics.co.uk will be covering events live as they happen.
