Labour wants Glasgow North-East by-election in November

The Glasgow North-East by-election could be postponed until November, The Times has learnt.

Senior figures in the Labour Party have ruled out next month for the election and say that an alternative date in early autumn may not be possible because of arcane Parliamentary rules. The by-election was triggered by the decision of Michael Martin to step down as the Commons Speaker and as an MP.

Commons rules state that if an MP dies or is made a peer, the writ for a by-election can be moved during a Parliamentary recess. But if an MP steps down - as in Mr Martin's case - the writ can only be moved when the Commons is sitting.

That means that if the writ was moved before or on July 21, when the Commons breaks up for the summer recess, the by-election would have to be held within 21 days in early August. Labour officials in Glasgow are opposed to an early date, saying that it would clash with the end of the school holidays. They fear a repetition of last year's Glasgow East by-election held in late July, when the SNP overturned a 13,000 Labour majority.

If the writ was not moved by July 21, politicians would have to wait until Parliament came back in October. Under this scenario the first available date would be early November.

A spokesman for Scottish Labour confirmed yesterday that the local party did not want an August contest.

As Speaker Mr Martin stood unopposed by the mainstream parties at the 2005 general election and had a majority of more than 10,000 over the SNP. Labour's hopes of holding the seat received a boost at the European election on June 4 with a majority of 2,000 over the SNP.

A spokesman for the SNP said: “If Labour is trying to kick this into the long grass, it can only be because it's being bested by the SNP in elections and opinion polls across Scotland.”

The Times