 | 'The SNP sniffily dismissed Mr Gray as Mr Brown's man in Scotland, calling him "Mr 3 Per Cent", an unkind reference to an opinion poll which found that proportion thought he would make the best first minister. Mr Salmond polled 41 per cent.' Andrew Bolger in the Financial Times, 16 th September 2008. |  |
When Labour galloped towards disaster in the Glasgow East by-election, one reason given by the party for holding the poll with minimum notice during the city's July holiday season was that it would have been wrong to deprive the constituents of an MP for longer than necessary.
Such considerations do not appear to apply to the people of Glenrothes, whose popular Labour MP, John MacDougall, died of cancer in August. The formerly safe seat would fall to the Scottish National party on a swing of about 14 per cent - less than the 22 per cent swing achieved by the SNP in Glasgow East.
Because Glenrothes lies next door to Gordon Brown's own constituency, there has been much debate over timing - and how its loss might affect the prime minister's battle to retain his grip on power.
If, as the party fears, there are no longer any safe Labour seats in Scotland, would it be better to push the bad news out of the way sooner rather than later? Or is it wiser to hang on and hope something will turn up? Not for the first time, Downing Street appears to favour the Micawber option.
Another fraught by-election for Labour looms at Holyrood next year when Jack McConnell, former Labour first minister, goes off to become British high commissioner in Malawi. Mr McConnell had a majority of 5,938 in his Motherwell and Wishaw seat at last year's Holyrood election, but a 12 per cent swing would give victory to the SNP.
Although the Nationalists would remain a minority government, taking Mr McConnell's old seat would give them an enviable mid-term boost.
CV warriors
Alex Salmond, Scotland's ebullient first minister, is seldom criticised for having trained as an economist and worked for the Scottish Office and Royal Bank of Scotland beforse entering politics.
But Iain Gray, who was elected Labour's Holyrood leader at the weekend, chose to contrast his own CV with that of the Scottish National party leader. Mr Gray said while he had been studying physics at the academic home of the enlightenment (Edinburgh University), Mr Salmond had been studying the dismal science - economics - in the academic birthplace of Thatcherism (St Andrew's University).
While Mr Salmond was an official at the Scottish office, Mr Gray said he was teaching in a tough school in Edinburgh and serving as a community activist in one of the city's biggest council house schemes. When Mr Salmond moved to what is now RBS, Mr Gray was teaching in Mozambique, "a country literally fighting for its life".
Mr Gray is desperate to challenge Mr Salmond's dominance of the Scottish political scene, but this seems an odd line to take for a man who has been an enterprise minister at Holyrood. Economic numeracy and business experience are in short supply among MSPs, and having worked for Scotland's biggest company has not become a badge of shame, in spite of the credit crunch.
The SNP sniffily dismissed Mr Gray as Mr Brown's man in Scotland, calling him "Mr 3 Per Cent", an unkind reference to an opinion poll which found that proportion thought he would make the best first minister. Mr Salmond polled 41 per cent.
Return to home page