Dunfermline & West Fife by-election 2006

'I accept entire responsibility for the conduct of this election campaign. We wanted to win it, we did not win it.' Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling MP, 10 th February 2006.

Labour defeat due to 'local issues'

From the Scotsman 10 th February 2006

Labour has blamed a sensational by-election defeat in which it saw one of its safest seats tumble to the Liberal Democrats on a combination of local issues.

Chastened Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling pledged the party would learn the lessons of its defeat on Thursday night in Dunfermline and West Fife.

But he rejected suggestions that the loss reflected badly on Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Mr Brown is MP for the neighbouring constituency and took a high profile role in the campaign. But Mr Darling said: "I accept entire responsibility for the conduct of this election campaign. We wanted to win it, we did not win it."

Mr Darling was speaking at a press conference at a coffee shop in Dunfermline where Labour was nursing a monumental electoral hangover.

The result was Labour's first by-election defeat in Scotland since 1988 - and the Liberal Democrats first by-election victory in Scotland since 1991.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Nicol Stephen said: "This is a sensational result for the Liberal Democrats and a very significant result for politics right across the country." And referring to Gordon Brown's involvement he said: "It's not just No 10 Downing Street that will be rocked by this - it will have a big impact in No.11 as well."

But Mr Darling insisted that Labour had simply fallen victim to concerns about local issues, such as tolls on the Forth Road Bridge, hospital cutbacks, the state of Dunfermline town centre and 700 job losses announced the day after Labour launched its campaign.

"This is a by-election we should have won," he told reporters. "We did not win, it was a bad result for us, there is no getting away from that.

"What is perfectly obvious is that our vote did not come out enough, and the opposition vote coalesced around the Liberal Democrat candidate," Mr Darling said.