Glasgow North East

Labour will be relieved. Their victory was expected, but we have become used to upsets. There wasn’t one and the Government will take comfort from that. Gordon Brown’s position is strengthened. The Conservatives, who hardly count in Scotland did badly, but the Lib Dems, who do, did a lot worse. The Nationalists did not pull off a miracle, but  the burdens of office reduce their grip on the miraculous.  

The one fact which should send a shiver into every corner of the democratic institutions of our nation is the turnout. 32.97%. Even for a by-election this is dire. Put the other way round 67.03% of the people with the right to vote turned their backs. A victory for Labour perhaps. A defeat for democracy certainly.