If you live in Rutherglen and Hamilton West vote for Labour’s Michael Shanks in tomorrow’s (October 5th, 2023) by-election.

Labour will discover, just days before the party’s conference, how accurate the polls are. How close can they come to over-turning a 5,230 SNP majority. And the Tories will discover how much shit they are actually in!

By-elections are a poor indicator of general election results, but it will give a snapshot of the (Scottish) public’s mood.

There are really only upsides for Labour. A win intrenches the narrative Labour are a Government in waiting. A narrow loss will focus the mind. Only a surprise good showing for the Tories will give the bigwigs pause. The odds of that are about 50-to-1.