Glenrothes by-election may be delayed until November

Margaret Curran campaigning during Labour's doomed attempt to retain Glasgow East

Thursday, 28, Aug 2008 06:32

The Glenrothes by-election may be delayed until November, according to rumours from the Labour party.

A final decision has yet to be taken, but senior party members are understood to prefer an October or November date for the vote, which will take place in Gordon Brown's neighbouring constituency.

The two dates which keep coming up are Thursday October 30th or Thursday November 6th.

The latter date is the favourite, coming a couple of days after the American presidential election. A loss would therefore be buried in the newspapers by events taking place across the Atlantic.

The Labour candidate will be chosen on Monday, with Kirkcaldy headteacher Lindsay Roy the early front-runner. Other possibilities include Cardended councillor Mark Hood and Glenrothes councillor Kay Morrison.

In a separate development, Downing Street has been forced to deny reports the prime minister is planning to take a hands-on role in the campaign.

Mr Brown's decision to go to his constituency was met by frenzied speculation that he was trying to control Labour's attempts to keep the seat.

But a Downing Street press spokesperson said: "The PM does not have a great deal of time in his constituency, and this week is such a chance."

He called the idea of Mr Brown masterminding the campaign "fanciful".

Labour has a 10,600 majority in the constituency, but such is the lack of faith in the party's ability to win a by-election now that the Scottish National party (SNP) is favourite to win the seat.