'Brown Bounce' aids Glenrothes win

In a result that seemed to take even party insiders by surprise, their candidate Lindsay Roy coasted to victory with a majority of 6,737.

Although the margin was down a third on that achieved at the 2005 general election, the win will be seen as a huge personal boost for Gordon Brown.

And Mr Brown hailed Labour's victory as a vote of confidence for the Government's response to the economic downturn.

Speaking to reporters in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: "What I have learned from this by-election is that people are prepared to support Governments that will help people through the downturn and offer real help to people. They are less willing to support people who have no idea about how to solve the problems we have got."

Just a few weeks ago Glenrothes looked set to be the third safe seat Labour had lost under his leadership, with the poor performance sparking open calls for him to quit.

However, since then Mr Brown has been boosted by his handling of the global financial crisis, slashing the Tories' poll lead and seemingly impressing voters in Glenrothes.

The seat borders the Prime Minster's Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath constituency, and Mr Brown staked political capital by visiting it twice during the campaign - breaking the precedent that premiers stay away from by-elections. Mr Brown's wife Sarah was also deployed to help bring in support.

Up until the count began the SNP were expressing confidence that they had achieved the 12.3% swing needed to overturn the 10,664 majority. However, the mood soon changed, with one Labour official admitting he was "bewildered" by the turnaround.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond took responsibility for the shortcomings in the SNP campaign. He accused Labour of conducting a "scaremongering" campaign over rising home care charges brought in under the local SNP-led council but pledged to "learn the lessons" from the episode.