Bad day for Brown after Labour drubbing in Glasgow East

Last Modified: 25 Jul 2008
By: Gary Gibbon

Labour suffers a catastrophic by-election defeat in Glasgow East with calls for a leadership contest from some quarters.

Senior ministers have been rallying behind the prime minister tonight, however, as he tried to restore the confidence of Labour activists.

Gordon Brown, who rejected suggestions his authority was under threat, insisted he understood and was listening to voters' concerns.

The turnout in the Glasgow electorate was much higher than expected, more than 26,000 people voted, or 42 per cent of the electorate.

Glasgow East has always been a safe Labour seat with a majority of 13,500 votes, but last night the Scottish National Party overturned that, winning by just 365 votes.

Labour were pushed into second place and the Conservative party came a surprising third, jumping ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

The result represents a 22.5 per cent swing from Labour to the SNP, enough to sweep away Brown from his constituency if it was repeated in a general election.

Glasgow East is one of the most deprived parts of Britain, scarred by unemployment, alcohol and drug problems.

Gordon Brown said today Labour was on the side of hard working families but as Nick Martin reports from Glasgow East, that's a message which isn't getting through.