Glasgow East by-election: what the bloggers say

Last Modified: 25 Jul 2008
By: Alice Tarleton

The shock loss of one of Labour's safest seats to the SNP reverberates throughout the political blogosphere.

Labour

"Peter Kellner: why Brown's fate should not depend on Glasgow East" is the bright-red headline on the front page of grassroots site Labour Home. It seems a prescient rebuttal, posted at 12:40am today, "while waiting around for a by-election result from Scotland".

"We've lost Glasgow East" comes the blog post at 1am. "Who could possibly blame us for making changes after a loss like this?" asks author Toby Hannon.

What changes - or should that be change - could he possibly be referring to?

Isn't Labour's demise all driven by a media which, "with the exception of the Mirror, fails to analyse what it is the Tories stand for and constantly talk down the Labour government?" wonders Antibloodsports.

"That's slightly different from the messages we've been getting on the ground (from places like Crewe, Glasgow, suburban London and also South Yorkshire)," says Bonkers. "There the message is 'Labour is still good despite everything - it's the leadership that's lacking.

Hemmelig disagrees. "If you really think that's the mood of the public today, then you certainly are bonkers."

"It's not just Glasgow East" is the latest post at lunchtime today. "Labour is in deep trouble" writes Tankist. "There is no more point in saying that last night was a one off than in pretending the London Mayoral disaster was a freak. The reality is that we are still cycling downwards and we need to face that."

SNP

Glasgow East - political earthquake! was the 1.58am verdict on SNP Tactical voting.

"Words defy me really," extols author Jeff. "Scotland has been spun on its axis. Glasgow turned inside out. I honestly thought it would take not the next election but the one after that before the SNP could take another seat in the Glasgow area."

More sober analysis this morning on whether the result marks a Tory revival, with the party edging from fourth to third place. "It seems that their days of being Scotland's forgotten party have come to an end."

Meanwhile posts from the count come from SNP campaign co-ordinator Indygal. At five past midnight she was cautious about making a premature victory call: "All I will tell you is that we're all smiling and the other main party isn't. If we've not won we've taken them close."

But today, jubilation, with the win being compared to seminal SNP by-election victories past. "I think the thing that made me realise the momentousness of the occasion more than anything was hearing my friends last night (most SLIGHTLY younger than me) describe the win as 'my Hamilton' or 'my Govan'.

"And I remember Govan vividly. I remember how I felt and I've often felt a little sorry for folk who don't have "a Govan" or "a Hamilton" because winning a by-election is just the most fantastic feeling."

Conservatives

The result in Scotland - far from true blue (or should that be get green?) Tory territory - jostles for space with other stories, including Barack Obama's foreign policy speech and David Cameron's reaching out to the Ulster Unionists on Tory grassroots site Conservativehome.

'25 per cent vote surge lifts Westminster Tories to victory in Labour heartland' is one headline - referring to a Tory council win from Labour.

Comments on the vote north of the border are relatively free of schadenfreude. "This is bad news for the country as a whole" says Yogi.

"Brown and the rest of NuLab now know for certain that they do not have a hope in hell chance of winning the next election and hence the scorch earth policy will be pusued at breakneck speed with the unions also making the most of it."

"For the Conservatives to hold their vote and save their deposit in Glasgow East when every one of their voters knew that they can influence the outcome by voting tactically shows that there are 1,600 dedicated Conservatives in Glasgow East... for the kind of seat and in the circumstances, that is exceptional," says RichardJ.

"Why the spoiler?" wonders Dorian Grape. "Why on the very same day of the vote did we start floating the idea of re-booting the Conservative and Unionist party?"

Liberal Democrats

The lost battle for third place is being dissected on activist-run Lib Dem Voice.

"Bad result for the Lib Dems," kicks off Devonchap. "The third party squeeze line doesn't ring true given the Tories didn't get hit so much. What happened?"

"I would read no more into than this than Labour losing their deposit in Newbury and Christchurch - and going on to win the general election in 1997," says a more optimistic Richard Church.

Mouse blames the policy void: "We had a good candidate who was given nothing to say. When you know from the start that you are not going to win, the least you can do is make your case."