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13/11/2009
Labour Wins Glasgow By-Election
The Labour Party has held its parliamentary seat in Glasgow North East, hailing the by-election win a public endorsement of embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Winning candidate Willie Bain retained a sizable majority over the Scottish National Party for the seat vacated by former Commons Speaker Michael Martin.
The new MP polled 12,231 votes, tailed by the SNP, who came second with 4,120 votes.
Labour took almost a 60% share of all ballots, compared to the third place Conservatives' 5%.
However, Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne said the result was no reflection of the national sentiment towards the government.
"Come the general election what we will be looking at is Labour's record in power and Gordon Brown will be the incumbent, and he will be the one who has to explain why he has got so much badly wrong," said Mr Osborne.
The BNP was fourth in the poll, followed by Solidarity's Tommy Sheridan in fifth place and the Lib Dems, who came sixth.
Voter turnout, at 32.97%, was a record low for a Scottish by-election and 12.8% down on the 2005 General Election.
Branding the result "disastrous" for Scotland's SNP First Minister Alex Salmond, Mr Bain said: "The people of Scotland are seeing through the SNP, the people of Glasgow have spoken for the whole of Scotland."
Scottish Secretary of State Jim Murphy said the party had got "too big for their boots", accusing them of arrogance.
"They get carried away with themselves and they've been brought back down to earth with a bump," added the Labour minister.
Mr Murphy told the BBC his party's victory was "an endorsement of Gordon Brown and what he is trying to do".
However, defeated SNP candidate said Westminster should not read into the win too much.
SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon conceded that her colleagues were disappointed by the result, but that a lesson had been learned.
"We absolutely must now take Labour's negative campaigning and misrepresentations head on," she said.
"Where the SNP offers opportunity, Labour now campaign on grudge and grievance - however inaccurate.
"It is for the SNP now to find a way to deal effectively with these unfounded attacks."
(PR/BMcC)
Winning candidate Willie Bain retained a sizable majority over the Scottish National Party for the seat vacated by former Commons Speaker Michael Martin.
The new MP polled 12,231 votes, tailed by the SNP, who came second with 4,120 votes.
Labour took almost a 60% share of all ballots, compared to the third place Conservatives' 5%.
However, Tory shadow chancellor George Osborne said the result was no reflection of the national sentiment towards the government.
"Come the general election what we will be looking at is Labour's record in power and Gordon Brown will be the incumbent, and he will be the one who has to explain why he has got so much badly wrong," said Mr Osborne.
The BNP was fourth in the poll, followed by Solidarity's Tommy Sheridan in fifth place and the Lib Dems, who came sixth.
Voter turnout, at 32.97%, was a record low for a Scottish by-election and 12.8% down on the 2005 General Election.
Branding the result "disastrous" for Scotland's SNP First Minister Alex Salmond, Mr Bain said: "The people of Scotland are seeing through the SNP, the people of Glasgow have spoken for the whole of Scotland."
Scottish Secretary of State Jim Murphy said the party had got "too big for their boots", accusing them of arrogance.
"They get carried away with themselves and they've been brought back down to earth with a bump," added the Labour minister.
Mr Murphy told the BBC his party's victory was "an endorsement of Gordon Brown and what he is trying to do".
However, defeated SNP candidate said Westminster should not read into the win too much.
SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon conceded that her colleagues were disappointed by the result, but that a lesson had been learned.
"We absolutely must now take Labour's negative campaigning and misrepresentations head on," she said.
"Where the SNP offers opportunity, Labour now campaign on grudge and grievance - however inaccurate.
"It is for the SNP now to find a way to deal effectively with these unfounded attacks."
(PR/BMcC)
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