The resignation of prominent political leaders and the on-set of a by-election has rocked Scottish Politics. First it was Labour leader Wendy Alexander who resigned following the decision of the Holyrood Standards Committee. Ms Alexander appeared visibly distraught when she announced her resignation live on TV. Standing down with ‘deep regret’, she said that ‘there has been a breach of natural justice in a partisan decision.’ And secondly the Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen resigned from his post with immediate effect citing the ‘health and wellbeing’ if his family as the sole reason.  Amidst all this the resignation of David Marshall, MP for the area since 1979, prompted a by-election in Glasgow East which will take place on 24 July.

With the Scottish parliament in recess over the summer and declining poll ratings for the Labour party, it is likely that the battle for the vacant Westminster seat and the battle for leadership of the former coalition partners will dominate Scottish politics. The candidates for the vacant Glasgow East seat are as follows:

1. Margaret Curran MSP, Scottish Labour Party.
2. Cllr John Mason, SNP.
3. Davena Rankin, Scottish Conservatives.
4. Ian Robertson, Scottish Liberal Democrats.
5. Dr Eileen Duke, Scottish Green party.
6. Frances Curran, Scottish Socialist party.
7. Tricia McLeish, Solidarity.
8. Hamish Howitt, Freedom 4 Choice.

Described by many across the media as a the ‘ultimate test’ of Gordon Brown premiership this campaign, despite being only one week old, has already produced much food for thought. John Mason has commented that victory for their party would be ‘catastrophic’ for the Labour party while the Lib Dems said that the SNP are a ‘single-issue party obsessed with breaking up Britain.’ Labour, on the other hand, has been focusing on crime and anti-social behaviour and the Tories have been concentrating on the rising cost of living.  Harry Reid, former editor of The Herald, wrote in the Financial Times that ‘Labour has already failed the real test of Glasgow East.’

The state of the constituency is a testament to political failure on a depressing scale. The statistics are dire. Male life expectancy is 63, which is 14 years below the UK average. Unemployment runs at 25 per cent and about 40 per cent of the constituents live on benefits. About 40 per cent of the children live in workless households.

Leader of the Conservative party David Cameron visited the constituency last week and described this election as a ‘broken society by-election’ that requires ‘radical social reform’ to deal with these problems. ‘If you can work, you must work’ added Mr Cameron. Outlining a ‘moral’ vision the Tory leader said:

We have seen a decades-long erosion of responsibility, of social virtue, of self-discipline, respect for others, deferring gratification instead of instant gratification... There is a danger of becoming quite literally a de-moralised society, where nobody will tell the truth anymore about what is good and bad, right and wrong. {This] is the responsibility agenda and it will be the defining thread of any government I lead.

Lastly, the first poll of voter’s intentions in this by-election was published a few days ago by the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror. Conducted by ICM, the poll showed Labour topping the vote with 47% and the SNP in second place with 33%, a 16% increase. The Lib Dems and the Tories polled 9% and 7% respectively. Whether or not the SNP can obtain the 22% swing needed and inflict yet another by-election defeat on the Labour party remains to be seen.

Click here for more information on the candidates.