East end hopefuls set scene for close run race

The large number of candidates could make what is expected to be a close fight even closer.

Labour is defending a majority of 13,500 in the by-election caused by the resignation on health grounds of Labour MP David Marshall. The SNP has claimed a political "earthquake" is under way and has threatened to overturn Labour's majority. Voting takes place on July 24.

On the campaign trail yesterday, Labour and the SNP clashed on law and order.

The Nationalists said crime had fallen by up to 24% in the constituency and called for Labour to back action to tackle the problem of airguns and reduce access to cheap drink.

They also highlighted plans for recruiting an extra 1000 police in Scotland.

Margaret Curran, the MSP and newly selected party candidate for the seat, said, however, that much of any improvement was attributable to past efforts by previous administrations, in areas such as antisocial behaviour, and she unveiled her own five-point plan to tackle crime.

One element of this plan was doubling the number of extra police on the streets in the city's east end, she said.

"The council has paid for 20 extra police because the SNP broke their promise on recruiting extra officers," she said.

"I want the council to double this figure in two years and will fight until they do."

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was in Glasgow, called on Tory leader David Cameron to apologise for a speech in which Mr Cameron appealed for a greater sense of public morality.

Appearing with candidate Ian Robertson, Mr Clegg said Mr Cameron had effectively claimed that if people were out of a job or struggling to make ends meet it was their own fault.

"If David Cameron has any decency he would apologise to the people of Glasgow East for the arrogance of his comments," he said.

Mr Clegg, who began his campaign visit with a tour of a Scottish Gas training facility in the constituency, said the area had been neglected for "generations" by Labour, while the SNP wanted to treat voters as "pawns" in a political game at Holyrood and Westminster.

Mr Clegg went on: "I think there is no excuse in politics for the lucky and the privileged to show such contempt for the poor and the forgotten." He also attacked Labour, saying the constituency had been neglected by a government that was "increasingly pointless", led by a Prime Minister who was also increasingly pointless.

"I think Gordon Brown's political credibility is almost entirely evaporated already," said Mr Clegg.

"If he cannot hold on to a seat which for generations has been synonymous with the Labour Party I think he will pretty well have forfeited any remaining credibility he has with the people of Glasgow, Scotland, and Britain."or the Tories, Annabel Goldie was happy to spend her cash in Chapman's family butcher on Baillieston Main Street.

If her party fails to better the fourth place showing it achieved in the 2005 election, the Scottish Conservative leader can at least console herself with the potted haugh she picked up while in town yesterday to support Davena Rankin, the Tories' candidate for Glasgow East.

As the Conservatives push their agenda of tougher action on crime and strong ties within the United Kingdom, Mrs Goldie assured voters that her party represented the only "safe choice" in this month's by-election.

"Only the Conservatives will guarantee good policies for the people in this area, guarantee a good MP in Davena Rankin, and guarantee a positive commitment to keeping Scotland in the United Kingdom," she said.

"Labour have failed - they are associated with failure, and the SNP are associated with risk, while the Conservatives are associated with certainty, safety, and a positive future."

But the Tories faced fresh criticism over comments made by UK party leader David Cameron and a call by Nick Clegg, his LibDem counterpart at Westminster, for him to apologise to the voters of Glasgow East.

The by-election campaign spilled over into Prime Minister's Questions where Harriet Harman, standing in for Gordon Brown, criticised Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

The SNP candidate in Glasgow East, John Mason, has accused Labour of fielding a "part-timer" in the campaign - Ms Curran is already a Holyrood MSP.

Ms Harman told MPs: "The leader of the Scots Nats in Holyrood doesn't turn up much in this House, although he continues to be a member and draw his salary." SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY Margaret Curran, 49, is the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston - a seat she held last year with a majority of nearly 4000. Ms Curran has previously served as Social Justice Minister, a post later renamed Communities, and following the resignation of Wendy Alexander as Scottish party leader, said she was actively considering whether or not to stand. She has stated that, if she won the seat, she would serve as an MP and MSP but that this would be resolved in the long term. Originally from the east end of Glasgow, she moved to the south side around two decades ago and now stays in Newlands. SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY John Mason, 51, is originally from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, and has lived in Glasgow's east end for 18 years. He was elected as a Glasgow City councillor for the Garrowhill ward in 1998 at a by-election and held the seat in 1999 and 2003. He has led the SNP group on the council since 1999 and was elected in 2007 as councillor for the new ward of Baillieston. Mr Mason is the SNP's longest-serving Glasgow councillor. He lives in a tenement flat in Barlanark. SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES Davena Rankin, 35, has worked for Marie Curie Cancer Care, the TSB bank, Glasgow University, Glasgow Caledonian University and carried out basic training as a Royal Naval officer. She is an active member of the union Unison and is branch secretary of the Glasgow Caledonian University branch. Her recent electoral experience includes fighting the Glasgow Kelvin seat during the 2001 General Election and the Glasgow Kings Park ward in the 2003 council election. She was educated at Knightswood Secondary School in the west of Glasgow, and now lives in nearby Anniesland. SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS Ian Robertson, 30, is a mathematics teacher at Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow. He was a candidate for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in the 2005 General Election and served as president of Strathclyde University Student Association between 2003 and 2004. SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY Dr Eileen Duke, 60, is the Scottish Green Party's co- convenor for Glasgow and the West of Scotland. From Dundee, she has lived in Glasgow since 1979, where she worked as a doctor for 23 years before retiring. Dr Duke was a Liberal Democrat activist for many years but left the party over her concerns about the environment. She joined the Greens in 2005 and was on the party's regional list for Glasgow in the 2007 Holyrood election. She lives in Scotstoun. SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY Frances Curran, 47, is one of the founding members of the SSP and joint national spokesperson with Colin Fox. She was one of six socialist MSPs elected for the West of Scotland at the 2003 Holyrood election. However, the party's representation was wiped out in the 2007 vote following its acrimonious split with former convener, Tommy Sheridan, who went on to form Solidarity. She was born in the east end but has not lived there for the past nine years. She said she was forced to move to Possil, where she stayed for seven years, because she was unable to carry on a tenancy after her mother died, and has lived in a housing association flat in Partick for the last two years. SOLIDARITY Tricia McLeish, 44, has been an active socialist for more than 20 years. She was born and lives in Shettleston. Ms McLeish works as a technical officer for Glasgow City Council's land and environmental services and was a Unison (and previously Nalgo) shop steward in the council's housing department for 15 years. After being suspended from the Labour Party for her involvement in the Anti-Poll Tax Federation, she became a founder member of the Scottish Socialist Alliance, the Scottish Socialist Party and then Solidarity. INDEPENDENT Chris Creighton, an independent candidate, stays in Newlands, on the south side of Glasgow. FREEDOM 4 CHOICE Hamish Howitt, Freedom 4 Choice candidate, lives in Blackpool.