General Election 2010 – Glasgow East revisited after the ‘earthquake’

First Minister Alex Salmond famously hailed John Mason’s SNP gain in Glasgow East as ‘not only a political earthquake – but off the Richter scale’.
Before the 2008 victory – by 365 votes – John had been a Councillor in Glasgow’s East End for 10 years. ‘Even if I wasn’t in politics, I’d fight the widening gap between rich and poor,’ he added.
He attends Easterhouse Baptist Church, is single, and holds impromptu surgeries on buses. He believes it will be tougher to retain his Westminster seat than it was to win it. ‘But my job is to work as hard as I can,’ says John, whose availability and office among the shops will be a key element in people voting for him again.
‘If the SNP get 20 seats at Westminster, we will be doing very well. It could happen – and it would be incredibly good if it did. The reality is these 20 seats are unlikely to include Glasgow East.’
Margaret Curran is the MSP for Baillieston, and hoping – at the second time of trying – to win back Glasgow East for Labour.
She has been an MSP for 11 years and will resign prior to the 2011 Holyrood elections, regardless of the outcome of the Westminster result.
She said: ‘The loss of this seat at the by-election was serious for Labour. People gave a very strong message which we have listened to and responded to.
‘The defeat actually gave us an opportunity to change the Labour Party; to look outwards, to re-engage with our voters. We have been out every weekend talking to people. Every single vote will count in this election.’
Other candidates are likely to be; Hamira Khan – Scottish Conservatives, Kevin Ward – Scottish Lib Dems, and Joe Finnie – BNP.