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Article: Labour's Glasgow East defeat is a portent of worse to come
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- July 26, 2008
CopyrightCopyright 2008 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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LEADING ARTICLE
The catastrophe that was last night's by-election result for
Labour had loomed ever since David Marshall MP announced his
decision to step down. Glasgow East was the party's third-safest
seat in Scotland and one of the safest in the country. Yet
everything, from the political climate to the timing, conspired to
make even a 13,000 majority seem marginal. In the end, Labour lost
the seat to the Scottish National Party by 365 votes. They are votes
that could decide the fate not only of a Prime Minister, but of his
party.
That Gordon Brown is not minded to leave office quickly, if at
all, was apparent from his speech to party activists in Warwick only
hours after the result had ...