Schadenfreude but not much else for the Tories

Aside from schadenfreude, there is not much in the Glasgow East result to make David Cameron smile. It reminds us that what is happening nationally is a fury directed at Labour, not Obama style enthusiasm for the Tories. I had initially thought coming third was quite a result for Cameron but went to bed before calculating voting shares. As CoffeeHousers pointed out, Cameron has made no progress in Glasgow East with his 6% voting share unchanged. And that in spite of an excellent candidate.

Of course in these by-elections, voters wishing to stir things up pick the nearest stick to beat Labour with. In Dunfermline and West Fife, Brown’s home seat, it was the Liberal Democrats not the SNP who trounced Labour and overturned an 11,000 majority. This time, the Lib Dems did just appallingly – and, again, with a good candidate. So whatever is going on here is a very strong anti-Labour – or, at the least, anti-Brown – sentiment.