Labour has won the Glasgow North East by-election.
Even though the result was expected, candidate Willie Bain will be delighted to have held off challenges from the SNP and other parties.
As STV News reported earlier on Thursday night, the turnout for the by-election was the lowest in Scottish political history. Only 33.02% of the electorate – 20,638 – voted in the election.
Mr Bain won 12,231 votes while David Kerr was given 4,120 votes. Mr Bain said: "It’s a great endorsement for Gordon Brown in his efforts to set the economy back on track and it shows the General Election is very much game on."
The Conservatives came third with 1,075 votes while the BNP came fourth with 1,013 votes.
Throughout his campaign, Mr Bain insisted that only a local candidate can do the area of Glasgow North East justice. He promised a crackdown on crime and a fairer deal for Glasgow.
When he launched his candidacy, Mr Bain commented: "I've lived in this area all my life, I understand it, I was brought up here, I'm proud to come from this area."
While the constituency was only created in 2005 following boundary changes, it has been represented by Labour for the past 74 years.
Mr Bain was joined by a number of supporters throughout his campaign, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Chancellor Alistair Darling, Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray and comedian Eddie Izzard.
Mr Bain has now replaced Michael Martin as the area’s MP. Mr Martin, the former speaker of the House of Commons, stood down as an MP earlier this year following criticism he received over his handling of the scandal at Westminster over MPs expenses.
Since then, he has become a peer in the House of Lords and is now known as Lord Martin of Springburn.
