SNP confident of Glenrothes victory

Alex Salmon, SNP leader

Tuesday, 04, Nov 2008 12:00

The Scottish National party (SNP) are confident of victory in this week's Glenrothes by-election, after the minutes of an internal Labour meeting were leaked to the press.

The minutes indicated deep divisions in the Labour camp, with complaints the Fife party was "not geared up for modern campaigning".

The document also said Gordon Brown's meeting with Margaret Thatcher at the start of his premiership was "a big mistake".

Margaret Thatcher remains a deeply unpopular figure in Scotland following her decision to trial the poll tax north of the border.

The leak could not come at a worse moment for the Labour campaign, with recent polls putting them neck-and-neck with the SNP after a disastrous start.

Worse still, Gordon Brown has now visited the constituency twice, so any defeat will have a stark effect on his political standing.

Alex Salmond, SNP leader, predicted victory today.

"My prediction is we'll win. We are nearly there," he said.

"It was always going to be close, but in these last few days we have motivated our support and we have pulled away from Labour. They really don't have the strength on the ground that we have got."

Labour has a majority of 10,600 in Glenrothes, but analysts are unsure if the party can win a by-election anywhere given their recent poll performance, despite recent improvements following Mr Brown's approach to the banking crisis.

The meeting from which the leaked document originated occurred before the by-election was triggered by the death of sitting MP John MacDougall.

Attendees were aware he was seriously ill however, and were readying their campaign accordingly.