Put yourself at heart of by-election, PM told

GORDON Brown is facing pressure from Labour MPs to put himself at the heart of the Glenrothes by-election campaign.

MPs say the party should run a positive campaign, spearheaded by Mr Brown, rather than focus on the threat posed by the SNP.

The by-election will be held in the next three months following the death of Labour MP John MacDougall.

The pressure for the Prime Minister to be involved is coming from loyal MPs who fear he will be portrayed as a coward if he does not turn up.

It has also emerged that Henry McLeish, the former First Minister and one-time MP for the area, has been asked to consider standing for Labour.

He has not ruled it out but told The Scotsman that, out of respect for Mr MacDougall, he would not seriously consider his position until after the funeral on Monday. Mr Brown is also due at the funeral in Burntisland, where Mr MacDougall was born.

After that, MPs want the Prime Minister campaigning in Glenrothes. "Gordon has to be there. He could not be more closely aligned to the seat," one Labour MP told The Scotsman.

"We should be running a positive campaign and we need good policies in place to do this.

"We have lost three by-elections in a row, largely due to the fact they were run negatively."

Activists want Mr Brown to use the campaign to launch policies to help voters and show the country Labour is still in tune with its needs. He will be urged to reverse the unpopular hikes in vehicle excise duty and unveil measures to tackle fuel poverty.

Another MP warned that, if the Prime Minister did not turn up to campaign, it would give the SNP "ammunition he was running scared".

Mr Brown's absence in Glasgow East, which Labour lost to the SNP, was resented by some in the party, and seized on by the opposition.

One Labour source said: "We lost, and the headlines were still 'Gordon loses Glasgow East'. He couldn't get any more blame than that if we lost Glenrothes, so he may as well turn up."

Any official selection of a candidate will not take place until after Mr MacDougall's funeral. Mr McLeish, however, confirmed that "two or three people" had approached him from the party.

But he insisted: "I have not seriously considered this. My main focus is to respect the grieving of John's family and to pay a bit of respect."

The Conservatives have already selected Maurice Golden as their candidate, while the SNP is understood to be putting up Peter Grant, the leader of Fife Council.

FACT BOX

CONVENTION dictates that the incumbent party moves the writ for a by-election.

As with many aspects of the constitution, however, this is not set in stone.

Officially, a by-election can be triggered by two MPs from any party certifying an election warrant. This means that the SNP, Conservatives or Liberal Democrats could technically move the writ – against the wishes of Labour.

However, no party will want to be seen to manoeuvring before the funeral of the MP, John MacDougall, takes place on Monday. Parliamentary by-elections have generally been set to the shortest possible timetable of 15 working days.

They generally take place within three months of the seat becoming vacant. A by-election can take place during recess, but only if an MP has died or been sent to the House of Lords. Then the Speaker issues a warrant that is certified by two MPs. The Speaker is required to give six days' notice in the London Gazette before a writ may be issued.