Another holiday headache - and the last chance for Gordon

The sad death of the respected John MacDougall, MP for Glenrothes, is a blow to all sides of the house. A member of Parliament since 2001, he won admirers from all parties for his principled stances and the passionate support given to his constituents.

In a baldly political sense though, his demise is yet another cause for alarm at Number 10. The by-election machine has barely found time to refuel in the last five months (just as well given the petrol prices), and although the Fife seat is relatively safe Labour at present, there's no reason to suggest another Glasgow East isn't on the cards.

The Lib Dems managed a surprise scalp just next door in Dunfermline and West Fife in 2006, overturning a 11,500 majority at a time when Labour's poll rating looked positively buoyant compared to the present slump. And with Gordon Brown's constituency bordering Glenrothes, many voters will not have to look hard to see where the blame lies.

This could be Gordon's last chance. Another embarrassing by-election loss in his back yard would surely herald at best a souped-up Millibandwagon and, maybe, the descending axe on a short, painful premiership.

Laddish behaviour

As part of a speech on families and marriage he will be making at an IPPR meeting, Michael Gove plans on decrying the degenerative effects of 'lad mags'.

All well and good - even if you don't agree with him, it's always nice to see Michael Gove do something vaguely interesting - but he'd do well to see what certain members of his party got up to in their own youth, without the assistance of FHM and Nuts.

Dave Cameron was particularly busy after all...