Defeat in Scotland bodes ill for Brown

July 26, 2008

LondonAthens, Greece - In one of its worst electoral setbacks in years, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party suffered a huge defeat in a Scottish by-election whose result was announced Friday, raising new questions about Brown's ability to hold the job he has had for barely 12 months.

More unsettling for politicians in London, the defeat came at the hands of the separatist Scottish National Party, which supports independence for Scotland. Brown is a Scot, and the Labor Party has long relied on Scottish seats to cement its majority in general elections.

In the 2005 general election, Labor won easily in the Glasgow East district, regarded as its third-safest seat in Scotland and 25th-safest seat in Britain. But the by-election results indicated that many Labor loyalists in the district, with one of the highest unemployment rates and lowest life expectancies in Britain, had switched allegiance.