Glasgow East: a blow for Labour?

Last Modified: 25 Jul 2008
By: Newsroom blogger

Talk about a kick in the solar plexus, that's what Labour got in Glasgow East in the early hours of this morning, with a gargantuan swing to give victory to the SNP.

By-elections and general elections are entirely different beats of course but it's been noted that if such a swing were seen at a Westminster general election then it would leave only one Labour MP in Scotland and rob even Gordon Brown of his seat.

The fact is that in Scotland, since the SNP took power last year in the Edinburgh parliament it would appear that Labour have simply failed to readjust to not being the natural party of government in Scotland. Many thought it was theirs by divine right for far too long.

There does seem to be a disconnect between a demoralised party machine and a disaffected former heartland vote. Tonight we'll be raking through the ashes.

Mr Brown himself is at a policy meeting in Warwick using new hand gestures in his speech but he has got no new content. One union boss in attendance there has said publicly there should be a leadership contest in the autumn.

We'll be talking live with Alex Salmond of the SNP and a Labour front bencher and debating whether this is the end of the beginning of the end.

Another British soldier is killed in Afghanistan and six troops have been wounded. It comes at the end of a very bloody two months for UK forces.

Jonathan Miller's blog: Mugabe, Bashir and Karadzic - my two-week tour of top

Big price rises have been announced by the energy company EDF. Domestic consumers will have to pay 22 per cent more for gas and 17 per cent more for electricity. EDF say it's because the rise in global oil prices have pushed up their own costs and they have to pass that on to the consumer.

You may recall that last week we broke the news that Centrica, the country's biggest energy supplier, were also predicting big rises in gas prices and one of their bosses talked about how consumers could change their behaviour in the light of more expensive gas and referred to the option of "two jumpers".

On another economic note, overall UK growth was a mere 0.2 per cent form April to June. Faisal Islam reports on the gathering evidence that Britain will go into recession.

The other big story tonight is the hole in the fuselage of the Qantas jet which opened up mysteriously on a flight to Melbourne. The plane plummeted but somehow managed to land with a gash somewhere ahead of the wing.

And finally, just in case you ever want to attend a banquet at Buckingham Palace we have a meander through the gold cutlery in a new exhibition which is just about to be opened. Be warned it has been glued to the table to prevent the public from pinching things.

It was the one seat in Britain which Labour should never have lost. We take a look at Glasgow East to shed light on just exactly why this loss was so seismic. And we ask a leader of the past, Lord Kinnock, what he would do in Gordon Brown's shoes.

Also this evening, you may not have heard of Sa Ding ding but millions of Chinese have. She's an extraordinary singing sensation from the far east who's playing Womad this weekend and the closing ceremony of the Olympics in two weeks and she talks to us tonight. Join us on More4 at eight.