Bugger.
Now I don't know if it was the copious amounts of Red Bull I'd had to drink, or the aching butterflies that were rocking my stomach, but I struggled to sleep last night, I really did.
The drive back to Edinburgh at 3 o'clock this morning was difficult. The announcement that John Mason had gotten 365 more votes than Margaret kept playing on my mind, like a song you hate that's on repeat in your head which you just can't stop.
I should start by congratulating him. He's not a bad man at all, and I am sure he'll be an effective MP for the people of Glasgow East. But for God's sake, Labour losing Glasgow East??
I guess that's our problem; it was always Labour and we took it for granted. When an SNP car tooted and gave the finger to me as I staggered with a heavy heart out of the pub, to put it mildly I was pretty 'annoyed'... Yes we let down Margaret and our party, but I also felt a profound sense of guilt that despite the fact the east end of Glasgow is like night and day to what it was in the late 90's, we hadn't done as much as we could have done or as much as we should have for the people who lived there.
There's no doubt in my mind that Nationalism is not what the people of Glasgow East need, and that the cause of the Labour Party is greater than any cause on which the SNP stand. However, it was them who decided, and them who spoke out. And we really need to listen to that.
We need clearer promises for people, and greater clarity on the direction of our 'moral compuss'.
However, the fact remains, that without a Scottish leader and with the most unpopular gevernment since 1918, it was always a bad time to have a by-election.
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