What now for Brown?
This will go down as one of Labour's most dramatic by-election defeats ever and will send shockwaves through the party. Glasgow East has returned Labour MPs to Westminster for almost 60 years, remaining solidly loyal despite huge industrial and social change. Yet the SNP seized it with a swing of more than 22%. If that were to be repeated at a general election, Labour would be left with just one MP north of the border. The prime minister and chancellor would be among those who would lose their seats. Of course, by-elections are not the same as general elections. Voters do feel they have a greater freedom to register a pro-*test*-('") vote when they are choosing one MP rather than their next government. Yet this result is a hammer blow to Gordon Brown. Ahead of the poll, depressed Labour MPs and some seasoned commentators were predicting that if Labour were to lose Glasgow East, Gordon Brown would be finished. It is hard to see how he can recover his authority after this. Yet his instinct will be to plough on. snip http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7524663.stm

I don't think Labour "really" lost at all, and so I stick by my prediction. So how is that the SNP is declared victor? Simple. You would not be the sharpest tool in the shed to vote Labour today, and among the 555 who voted for the "wrong" Curran (she of the Scottish Socialist Party) there may have been at least 365 would-be labour voters who really meant to vote for Margaret. And that was enough. Brown? This will make him all the more determined to cling on until the very last day, and we shall have to put up with him until May 2010.

let gator use him for target practise :lol: :wink: