11 July 2008
The political parties have fired the opening shots in the Glasgow East by-election, a contest that is crucial for Labour and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Labour stumbled at the first hurdle when its favoured candidate, local councillor George Ryan, failed to turn up for a selection meeting and then announced that he was withdrawing.
The party had to delay the selection of its candidate over the weekend before announcing on July 7 that it had chosen former communities minister Margaret Curran, the party's health spokeswoman.
Including Curran, there were nine candidates for the parliamentary seat when nominations closed on July 9.
The by-election, which will be held on July 24, was caused by the decision of MP David Marshall to resign for health reasons. His announcement plunged Labour into turmoil as it coincided with the surprise decision of Wendy Alexander to resign her post as Scottish Labour leader. She had been banned from the Holyrood Parliament for one day for breaking the rules over donations to her election campaign.
In Glasgow East, Labour is defending a majority of 13,500 in what has been one of the party's safest seats in Scotland.
But the Scottish National Party, which is enjoying a period of popularity after forming the new Scottish government in May 2007, believes it can pull off a stunning victory. SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond predicted that the by-election would result in a 'political earthquake'.
He said: 'An SNP win will drive Gordon Brown to cancel the 2p rise in fuel duty, to introduce a fuel duty regulator, recycling the UK's record tax take into lower costs for families and to give Glasgow East a fair share of Scotland's oil wealth.'
Labour has delayed the selection of a new Scottish leader until after the by-election. Meanwhile, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have begun the process of electing a new leader after the resignation of Nicol Stephen, who said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Glasgow East by-election – full list of candidates
Chris Creighton, Independent
Frances Curran, Scottish Socialist Party
Margaret Curran, Scottish Labour Party
Eileen Duke, Scottish Green Party
Hamish Howitt, Freedom-4-Choice
John Mason, Scottish National Party
Tricia McLeish, Solidarity
Davena Rankin, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Ian Robertson, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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