New Statesman - <![CDATA[John Curtice]]> http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/john_curtice en <![CDATA[A rich seam of nationalism]]> http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/07/glasgow-east-constituency http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/07/glasgow-east-constituency Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT John Curtice Labour felt compelled to fight what at the last election was its 26th safest seat in Britain as though it were a marginal and even then it couldn't win. Politics expert John Curtice on the battle for Glasgow East and Scottish national identity

The light cast on Glasgow East by journalists during the by-election campaign was often been unflattering. 'The hardest, poorest place in Britain,' claimed AA Gill in The Sunday Times. A 'hell-hole of a constituency', wrote Simon Heffer in The Daily Telegraph. The constituency, 'doesn't need an MP - it requires a miracle worker', argued Derek McGovern in the Daily Mirror.

Unsurprisingly these sentiments met a critical response from the constituency's [...]

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