Gordon Brown yesterday broke off from his holiday to lead the tributes at the funeral of John MacDougall, the Labour MP for Glenrothes who died last week of lung disease.

Mr Brown, who was accompanied by his wife Sarah, delivered a eulogy to the 250 mourners at Erskine church in Burntisland and spoke of Mr MacDougall's record of service to Fife as a trade unionist, council leader and MP.

Among those attending were Des Browne, the Scottish Secretary, Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, Nick Brown, the former agriculture secretary, and the Labour MPs Frank Roy, Gavin Strang, Tom Clarke, Jim Devine, Anne Moffat and Jim McGovern.

The mourners also included Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell, two former Scottish First Ministers, Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader who represents nearby North East Fife, and Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster.

The funeral was led by John Allan, a retired minister and family friend, while Scott Brady, a close family friend who worked in Mr MacDougall's constituency office, also gave a eulogy.

The MP's death at 60 has left Labour facing a difficult by-election in a seat next door to Mr Brown's constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Speculation continued last night that Mr McLeish, who represented the former Fife Central seat at both Holyrood and Westminster, will put his name forward for nomination as the Labour candidate.

Sources said that Mr McLeish was still “taking soundings” and would clarify his intentions this week. Other names mentioned include Willie Sullivan, a Labour councillor in Dunfermline, and Mark Hood, another Fife councillor.

Labour would have to decide this week if they wanted to hold the by-election as early as September 11, the first possible date. The SNP are heavy favourites to win despite having to overturn a Labour majority of 10,664.

Some senior Labour figures in Scotland believe that by holding the by-election early, the party would “get the bad news out of the way”. They say that with Mr Brown launching his much-trailed autumn fightback, thought to involve a package of financial measures aimed at families as well as what his allies hope will be a fighting speech at Labour's conference, a by-election defeat in late October would risk wiping out the impact of these.

Another theory gaining ground last night was that the first week of November could be an option for the by-election. That would clash with the US Presidential election and leave Labour and Mr Brown open to the charge that they were attempting to deflect attention from the expected loss of a seat in what was once regarded as solid Labour territory.

Labour sources in Fife were, however, disputing last night that a direct comparison could be drawn between Glenrothes and Glasgow East, where Labour suffered a catastrophic defeat to the SNP last month.

They claim that the local SNP-led council, elected last year, is not popular in Glenrothes and that many voters in the area had such a high regard for Mr MacDougall they would be expected to maintain their past support for Labour.

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