Background
Fife is traditionally a stronghold for the Labour Party. McDougall had held Glenrothes and its forerunner, Central Fife, since 2001, when he succeeded Henry McLeish. Willie Hamilton had previously represented the area, which has elected Labour MPs since Hamilton won West Fife from the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1950.
The poll followed a run of poor by-election results for the Labour Party, which included a loss to the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Glasgow East, formerly the party's twenty-fifth safest seat in Britain. Glenrothes has a considerably smaller Labour majority than Glasgow East had.
According to the Financial Times, Labour privately admitted that they expected to lose Glenrothes to the SNP. The Guardian described the constituency's main town, Glenrothes, as a "core area" for the SNP. The SNP were in second place in the seat in the 2005 General Election and won the nearest equivalent seat in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.
The SNP also ran Fife Council, which covers the constituency, in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats. The Scottish Liberal Democrats won the last by-election to be held in Fife from Labour on a swing of 16%.
Read more about this topic: Glenrothes By-election, 2008
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