There are some Labour strongholds so resolute in Glasgow East that it seems even the family pets have it in the blood.
The only SNP casualty of the campaign so far has been local councillor Alison Thewliss, below, hospitalised after she was bit
ten by a dog while posting leaflets.
"It's a shame," a colleague explained. "She went to get it checked out at the infirmary because it had got all infected."
Drumlanrig wishes her a good return to health.
TORIES LESS BLUEThe Conservatives have a bounce in their step again in Glasgow East.
Free from any expectation that they might actually win the poll, they are also noticing that the ferocious reception that was once accorded them in the East End of Glasgow has been toned down somewhat.
It is a case of being thankful for small mercies. "There was once a time when you wouldn't walk down these streets with a blue rosette. You'd be chased out." Progress – of a sort.
GREENS INCAPACITATEDFriday's leak of the long-awaited green paper on welfare reform set tongues a-wagging about who might have done it.
Fingers were pointed at the Treasury, where officials are known to have deep misgivings about the plans. Officials at the Department for Work and Pensions, including Minister James Purnell, left, were somewhat harassed on Friday after their baby leaked.
"I need to go on incapacity benefit for a few years," sighed one tired adviser.
SMOKING HIM OUTIn an age where politicians never seem to take responsibility for their actions by resigning, Welsh Assembly minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas, below, is an odd exception.
The heritage minister quit his post yesterday after he walked into a pub with a lit cigar – thereby breaking the strict anti-smoking laws.
Thomas said that his growing reputation for gaffes had made his position "untenable".
This was after he read out the wrong person as the winner at a recent book awards ceremony.
The full article contains 331 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
