Glasgow East Results
It was the 26th safest labour constituency in the UK and the second in Scotland. So what would labour be left with if their was a general election now? Well you can't judge the whole national picture from one by-election but we know Gordon Brown is in a lot of trouble. On our performance, well we faced a horrific squeeze from labour and the SNP. We went from nearly having 12% of the vote in 2005, down to 3.5%, forth just behind the conservatives, who had a small spueeze. Oh and in case you didn't know the SNP won. (more)
Cameron on a referendum?
According to Welsh Ramblings David Cameron has said that he is overruling some of his party's AMs in Wales and will not be allowing a referendum on a real Parliament for Wales. Lenin Cymru says that the media have failed to report these remarks, preferring instead to concentrate on the Tory Leader's support of a badger cull in Wales and his non-remarks on Alun Cairns and Lord Wyn Roberts' report on devolution. However Lenin Cymru also fails to give a source for these comments and nobody else in the blogosphere or elsewhere seem to have independently picked up on them. ... (more)
Glasgow East and all that
A week or more ago the Stockton South Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate, Jaquie Bell, said that she thought the SNP were on track to take Glasgow East from Labour. This wasn't a newspaper pundit looking at statistics, but someone who'd just spent several hours walking the streets delivering Liberal Democrat leaflets. In the early hours of this morning she was proved right. A sliver of a majority (more)
Rosslyn Hill windows on another world...
It's one of those great little gems - and is so impressive that my little disposable camera has captured the spirit but not the essence... But here on Rosslyn Hill in the Unitarian Chapel we have a stained glass window from a Wiliam Morris (1834-1896) and Edward Byne Jones (1833-1898) collaboration. The delicacy of the colour, the shades and the way they are deployed is quite magical... http://www.rosslynhillchapel.com/thechapel.html The extent to which Morris and Byrne Jones affected design cannot be under-estimated. But it's also important to understand they way in which they moved at the very top of society. ... (more)
The SNP - Taking the Tide on the Flood?
Hearing the results in Glasgow East at some ungodly hour this morning my first thought was of my pal who is a member of the SNP. We had an email exchange a couple of weeks ago and she had been out campaigning. She was genuinely buoyed up, believing they could win. I remembered visiting her and her family a couple of years ago. Her father too is an SNP activist and what struck me about both of them was the enthusiasm with which they talked about their party. They conveyed a real sense of commitment to and belief in everything ... (more)
SNP win in Glasgow East
The result: SNP 11,277 43.1% (+26.1%) Labour 10,912 41.7% (-19.0) Conservative 1,639 6.3% (-0.6) Liberal Democrat 915 3.5% (-8.3) Majority 365 1.4% Turnout 42.3% (-6.0) (more)
Bye Bye Gordon?
So Labour have managed to lose their third safest seat last night in Glasgow East. The full result was: (more)
Where is the Grin Control on Nicola Sturgeon?
Yes I'll admit it and go and collect my anorak now, I was there to the bitter end last night. That was when Newsnight Scotland finally deemed it time to show highlights of the campaign to round off conference and take the camera of Nicola's increasingly smug "I know something you don't" face. All through the coverage all the politicians in the studio Nicola, Douglas 'I'll defend my sister' (more)
on Labour losing the Glasgow East by-election
Their third safest Westminster seat. With Parliament being in recess the impact will not be as big as it could be. Gordon Brown can look forward to a mildly calm summer with no by-elections up and coming. Reflection, and perhaps a decision to hold a general election just after conference season this autumn. Conference should be interesting, with many possible contenders lining up to make big speeches just in case anything happens and Brown gets pushed onto a sword. As Nicola Sturgeon MSP pointed out, this is the first by-election in history between two competing governments. Crewe and Nantwich was ... (more)
Why Euro-Obamania may not be a good thing for him...
He's a supremely clever political operator, so Barack Obama obviously realises that his German "Obamamania" pictures are a mixed blessing. Yes, they neutralise any thoughts that he might not be able to hack it on the world stage, if elected President. But it has to be asked: how do pictures of adoring Germans go down in Clark County, Ohio? Not well I suspect. Headlines such as: Der Spiegel (more)