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New poll bad news for Labour on eve of by-election

23/07/2008

Labour will struggle to win the Glasgow East by-election, according a new poll released by politics.co.uk today.

It shows only forty-six per cent of people believe Labour can win tomorrow's vote.

The responses come despite more optimistic forecasts from political analysts over the last week.

They will make depressing reading for the Labour party. Asked whether Gordon Brown should resign as prime minister if his party loses the by-election, half of respondents said he should. Only forty two per cent disagreed.

The poll shows Alex Salmond's Scottish National party (SNP) retain an impressive level of support.

Asked if the SNP would govern Glasgow East better than Labour, 51 per cent of respondents said they would, while only 24 per cent disagreed with the statement.

But the highest result in the poll concerned the performance of Mr Salmond as Scottish first minister. Asked if he has been good at his job since coming to power a year ago, 54 per cent of respondents said he had been, with only 19 per cent saying he had been a bad first minister.

The poll comes a day before the crucial by-election vote, which could see Labour lose power in the constituency for the first time in half a century.

Most political analysts are still expecting Labour to retain its control of Glasgow East, but by a drastically reduced majority.

politics.co.uk will be covering tomorrow's events as they happen.