Brown hits the Glenrothes trail – but not really

Published on Friday 5 September 2008 22:49

GORDON Brown yesterday visited Glenrothes, the constituency which will be his next by-election battleground.

But the Prime Minister, who was not wearing a party rosette, insisted he was not there to campaign

but to open a trade union learning centre and also visit a voluntary centre.

He has refused to get involved with by-elections – he did not visit Glasgow East in July, when the SNP overturned a 10,500 majority, or Crewe and Nantwich where the Conservatives took the seat from Labour in May. In contrast, Alex Salmond, the First Minister, visited the Glasgow East constituency ten times to help the Nationalists to victory.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, has also challenged Mr Brown to campaign in Glenrothes, but Labour have insisted that prime ministers do not take part in by-elections. However, Mr Brown is the MP for the neighbouring Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, and a spokeswoman for the SNP suggested that, while he may not be in Glenrothes, his constituents may see a lot more of him in the coming weeks.

The two constituencies share a local newspaper," she said. "So he may want to get in a few more photo opportunities."

The last by-election in which Mr Brown was involved was as chancellor, when he ran the ill-fated Dunfermline and West Fife campaign in 2006. Labour lost the seat to the Liberal Democrats.