Gordon Brown’s worst nightmare was realised early today as the Scottish National Party triumphed by taking Glasgow East, one of Labour’s safest seats.

The hopes of Labour strategists that their disastrous run of electoral setbacks was about to end were dashed as the SNP’s John Mason achieved the enormous 22 per cent swing required to topple the long-time stronghold.

Mr Mason, a Glasgow councillor, overturned a 13,507 Labour majority at the general election in 2005 to win by 365 votes from Labour’s Margaret Curran. Turnout was just over 42 per cent. Earlier in the day, Labour had requested a recount, which delayed the result being announced by around an hour.

In his victory speech Mr Mason described the result as "not just a political earthquake, it is off the Richter scale. It is an epic win, and the tremors are being felt all the way to Downing Street”.

Expert View

No-one can possibly overestimate the scale of the disaster which hit Gordon Brown and Labour in Glasgow East

Angus Macleod, Scottish Political Editor

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He added: "We have removed the dead hand of Labour control."

Mrs Curran admitted that the Labour Party had to listen to the voters. “I do believe the Labour Party has to listen and has to hear the message from the people of Glasgow East," she said.

While Mr Brown is not under immediate threat, it was the worst possible result as he prepares for a summer holiday and tries to chart a plan for his own and Labour’s recovery.

The result will intensify doubts among Labour MPs about Mr Brown’s ability to win a general election and could spell trouble at Labour’s conference in the autumn when a weakened Prime Minister will have trouble getting his way on a range of policy issues.

Many MPs and key ministers leave for their holidays this weekend and with the Commons not sitting for months the chances of a challenge to Mr Brown are slim. But MPs are likely to be spending a lot of time on the telephone to each other as they ponder ways of easing their party’s plight.

Cabinet ministers already admit privately their dilemma that any move to unseat Mr Brown would make the party look as if it was consumed by internal affairs rather than dealing with the nation’s problems, and could end up losing the party votes rather than gaining them.

Another differing school of thought among ministers is that a change of leadership over the next year could at least cut Labour's losses at the 2010 election.

Few think that anything can happen before the autumn and the betting among most is that the crunch point will come next spring if the local elections are again poor for Labour and the party is then only one year out from the general election.

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