By-election in Glasgow imminent as Speaker Martin resigns

So Michael Martin has caved into pressure and decided to resign. Martin's position became untenable when a number of MP's proposed a motion of no-confidence. Martin himself has not been blameless in terms of his own expenses and his wish to pass his Glasgow North East seat onto his son Paul suggests he thought he could treat the voters as an afterthought.

No doubt Brown will be pleased to see a sacrificial goat served up on the basis that this might take the heat off him, however things won't work out that way if the SNP thrash him in the now upcoming by-election.

As the speaker is seen as being a non-political figure none of the unionist parties stand against him. Their party machines (outside Labour) will therefore be rather dormant in the area and Labour's activists in Glasgow are unlikely to be that motivated to save face when the original plan for the seat was to have a royal type change over from father to son.

This behaviour shows why 'the people's party' is now the rich people's puppet party and the fact that speaker Martin tried desperately to cover up the expenses scandal rather than try and reform the House of Commons shows the measure of the man.

Still I'm sure like every other failed and disgraced cabinet minister the Speaker will find himself with an automatic ticket into the House of Lords. Whether his son will join dear daddy on the greasy pole of success now looks a lot less likely however though Labour perhaps have enough of a brass neck to stick him forward.

Whoever stands for Labour will represent a Government which has lost its moral compass and is drowning under a sea of contempt. In these circumstances the SNP have an excellent chance for another breakthrough by-election win.