The Labour Party today posted a resounding win in a Glasgow byelection in what may be the last such test of public opinion before a general election.
Labour candidate Willie Bain polled 12,231 votes - almost three times as many as the second placed candidate David Kerr from the pro-independence Scottish National Party, maintaining Labour's iron grip on a seat it has held for 74 years.
The Conservatives took third place, with only 1,075 votes - just ahead of the anti-immigration British National Party.
The election was caused by the departure of parliament speaker Michael Martin after criticism of how he handled an expenses scandal earlier this year.
The Labour win, although predicted, gives some welcome respite for Prime Minister Gordon Brown who must call an election by next June which the opposition centre-right Conservatives are expected to win.
Labour, in power since 1997, has seen its support suffer during a deep and enduring recession and with a rising death toll in Afghanistan.
Analysts caution against reading too much into one vote ahead of the general election, but Labour needs to maintain its strong position in Scotland if it is to have any chance of clinging on to power against the odds.
Scotland elects 59 members to the 646-seat British parliament - and 39 of them are from Labour. The Conservatives return just one member of parliament from Scotland.
Labour's Mr Bain captured around 60 per cent of the votes cast. However, turnout was a mere 33 per cent.
The former speaker, Mr Martin, won more than half of the vote in the 2005 general election when the main opposition parties followed convention by not standing against the speaker, parliament's highest official.
The Glasgow North East area was once Europe's biggest train building centre, but is now blighted by crime, poor educational results and the worst unemployment rate in Scotland. However, voters have stayed loyal to Labour.
Reuters