The Glenrothes By-election 2008

'Minister David Cairns continued today with Labour fears that more internal warfare will lead to almost certain defeat in the Glenrothes by-election.' Michael Settle in the Herald, 20 th September 2008.

Labour denies MP running Glenrothes by-election bid has been sacked

By Michael Settle in the Herald, 20 th September 2008

More despondency about Labour's bid to keep the seat of Glenrothes emerged last night with denials that Frank Roy, the UK Government's Scottish whip, has been sacked from the by-election campaign while No 10's alleged tactics have been questioned.

The Herald has been told that Mr Roy, the MP for Motherwell and Wishaw who ran Labour's unsuccessful campaign in Glasgow East, is fuming over suggestions that he has been ditched and told his services are "no longer required".

In fact, one senior party source insisted that, after initially being involved in the campaign to retain the Glenrothes seat, Mr Roy left 11 days ago to go on holiday in America, where he still is.

Attempts by the party leadership - including, it is thought from Gordon Brown himself - to try to keep Mr Roy involved in the campaign have so far failed. The precise reasons for his reluctance to stay on are unclear. The MP was unavailable for comment last night. Meantime, Scottish Labour sources branded claims Mr Roy had been sacked as "absolute rubbish".

Although it has been further suggested Nigel Griffiths, the Edinburgh South MP, is now running the campaign, in fact, it is Gordon Banks, the Ochil MP and parliamentary private secretary to James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary.

One party source said: "No 10 leaked the name of Siobhain McDonagh and sought to decapitate David Cairns. If they're doing the same to Frank Roy - which is what it looks like - then it's an unbelievably cack-handed thing to do." He added: "Frank is beside himself. Why pick a fight with Frank?" Mr Roy is a close ally of John Reid, the former Home Secretary.

"The notion he has been sacked - how is that intended to help? With friends like these, the Prime Minister does not need enemies," added the source.

The suggestion No 10 leaked the names of Ms McDonagh and Mr Cairns to discredit them and to try to take the steam out of the Labour rebellion ahead of this weekend's conference has been denied by Downing Street.

One senior Whitehall source has accused No 10 of "playing with fire" while a Labour backbencher has branded it "dysfunctional". However, a source close to the PM yesterday "emphatically" denied that No 10 had anything to do with any attempt to discredit Mr Roy.

The latest twist in Labour's bid to keep Glenrothes - a Fife seat with a majority of 10,664 vacated following the death of John MacDougall in August - comes after senior sources decried the lack of what they have described as any meaningful campaign on the ground. One senior source complained: "There is no campaign in Glenrothes. No-one believes we can win."

However, Scottish Labour HQ insists this is simply not true, that party workers are "extremely busy".