By-election result 'disaster' for Salmond

STV
By-election result 'disaster' for Salmond

New Glasgow North East MP Willie Bain says Labour’s victory is “disastrous” for First Minister Alex Salmond.

At his victory speech at Glasgow College Mr Bain also claimed the First Minister’s party had not treated the people of Glasgow well.

“This was a disastrous result for Alex Salmond,” said Mr Bain, who was accompanied Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy and Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray.

“I think people were very clear the SNP have not treated Glasgow well on a range of issues from the rail link to crime, to health, to jobs and it was a disastrous result for him personally.

“He visited this constituency on several occasions and he was soundly rebuffed yesterday.”

Mr Salmond said that while his party was disappointed with the result, he was happy SNP candidate David Kerr achieved the best result in the Labour stronghold for 35 years.

He also called Labour’s campaign “relentlessly negative”.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said: “This is a dramatic result for the Labour Party. It’s a dramatic result for the SNP as well.

“The fact is the SNP are now a novelty that has worn off.”

By-election win hailed as victory for Gordon Brown.