Newspapers are crediting Gordon Brown with Labour’s surprise win in the Glenrothes by-election and says it has ended any talk of a cabinet coup.

They say his gamble to break with the convention that a prime minister does not campaign in by-election polls succeeded. Brown visited the seat twice, while his wife Sarah was on the local trail at least half a dozen times.

“This was a high-risk strategy, but it paid off. Now, as a result, it looks as if Mr Brown himself won the by-election,” said the Scotsman.

“Gordon Brown’s political renaissance continues apace after an astonishing result on his home turf that was beyond Labour’s wildest dreams and neither side predicted,” said the Daily Telegraph.

“Lindsay Roy is the new MP. But Glenrothes is Gordon Brown’s triumph,” said The Times. “Two months ago it looked as if this contest could seal the end for Mr Brown. Now it has confirmed a truly remarkable comeback. Labour’s general election majority was halved but, because of the way expectations had developed, this result had all the feeling of a landslide.”

Brown’s frequent appearances on national television as he tackled the financial crisis also helped prevent a repetition of the Scottish National Party’s crushing victory in Glasgow East in July, the Times added.

For the Financial Times it was “a result that confirms Gordon Brown’s political revival and is likely to ignite speculation over a possible early general election.”

The Guardian said the victory would “put a spring in Brown’s step” and said he was now secure from a leadership challenge. “The retention of Glenrothes protects Brown still further: there is no way that future Labour activists will chant “Remember, remember the 7th of November” as they recall an attempted 2008 plot.”

But The Independent reminds readers that retaining what was after all a safe Labour seat does not mean the next general election is in the bag. “The remarkable turnaround will lift the spirits of Labour’s MPs and activists. But, as they breathe a sigh of relief, they will be under no illusion about the electoral mountain Labour still has to scale to win the next general election.”

(Photo: Labour candidate Lindsay Roy celebrates after winning the Glenrothes by-election. REUTERS/Stephen Hird)

Gordon Brown has woken to some unhappy headlines during his year as prime minister but the verdicts on newspaper websites following Labour’s shock defeat in the Glasgow East by-election were probably the worst he has faced.

“Disaster” was the description of the Daily Mail and The Independent after one of Labour’s safest seats fell to the Scottish National Party. The Daily Telegraph called it “Humiliation for Brown” while “Catastrophe for Labour” was The Guardian’s verdict.

The latest terrible poll result, coming after Labour lost its deposit in Henley, left David Cameron clamouring for a general election and the focus once again on Brown’s future, with speculation once more that he will face a leadership challenge.

Is it all over now for Brown? Do you think it’s time for him to step down or be replaced? Send us your comments.

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One of Gordon Brown’s favourite speech writers is leaving Number 10 to return to the Treasury. That gives Brown the perfect opportunity to draft in someone who has the ability to coin the kind of phrases that chime with the electorate and stick in people’s minds.

To date, that is something Brown, whose dismal year in office was underlined on Friday with a humiliating fifth place by-election finish for Labour, has signally failed to do. Sure, Brown wanted to move away from the accusations of endless spin that soured the public mood towards his slick predecessor Tony Blair.

But the mantras Brown has chosen to repeat ad nauseum since he took up the mantle of Prime Minister have failed to stick. Stressing how many people Labour has taken out of poverty in the past decade, or the need to take “long-term decisions” just isn’t working.

People need reassurance over fuel and food prices, over crime and security, but perhaps more than anything they need to be convinced Brown understands — and cares.

Brown — nicknamed the Iron Chancellor during his decade at the Treasury — is right to focus on the long-term. He wants to ensure people can afford to buy homes, that the country slashes its reliance on non-environmentally friendly energy, and that taxpayers have access to good healthcare, education and welfare support.

But with voters feeling the pinch, it’s the short term that’s key, and if Brown wants his messages about the kind of place Britain needs to become longer-term to stick, he might need to think about the kind of sound-bite approach that Blair used so well.

Brown’s tried a more “man of the people” approach but that hasn’t convinced. Voters are not warming to the serious, unsmiling Prime Minister. And if Brown can’t change his manner, then he needs to change the kinds of words he uses.

Of course, he will also need some luck. No amount of “in tune” rhetoric is going to help if people continue to feel he’s not the man to lead them through the economic bad times. But at the moment, his language and demeanour seem to compound voters’ unease. The Iron Chancellor risks becoming the leaden Prime Minister of British history: dull, inert and potentially poisonous.

Leader writers applauded the shock value of David Davis’ resignation but were divided over his motives and predicted the potentially shambolic by-election to come would damage the Conservative party.

With the LibDems already having said they will not field a candidate on July 10 and Labour still mulling the options, the papers raised the spectre of Davis campaigning alone against fringe parties like the Monster Raving Loonies and a motley crew of publicity-seekers.

“Yesterday he slashed his own party’s jugular instead of Gordon Brown,” said the Sun. “He will win praise from many voters glad to see a politician standing on a point of principle but in truth his vanity has led to an act of incredible selfishness.”

The Daily Mail also praised his principles but questioned his judgement. “At the very least it deprives the Conservatives of a recognised big hitter ..,” it said. “More worryingly Mr Davis leaves his party leader … exposed to accusations of internal division.”

Right on cue, the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror twisted the knife. Under the headline “Cracks in Cam’s Lot,” it praised Davis for his stand, but said he had thrown the spotlight on party leader David Cameron.

“His failure to show true leadership has left him with a thorn in his side that threatens to divide the Tories,” it crowed. “If Cameron can’t keep a grip on his party in opposition, how would he cope with the pressure of running the country.”

The Independent said Davis’ move “cannot be interpreted as anything other than an act of reckless egotism” which had indeed exposed divisions on the Conservative front bench about 42 days pre-charge detention. Like several other papers, it wondered whether Davis still harboured a grudge against Cameron for having beaten him in the party’s 2005 leadership election.

“The resignation is the first bit of luck Gordon Brown has had in many months,” it concludes.

The Financial Times said the forthcoming by-election “is more likely to be a damp squib than a national rallying point,” and added: “The Tories need fewer gimmicks and more gravitas.”

The Guardian said the Tories are “aghast” at Davis’ stand and echoed many papers’ suspicions that he had been carried away by the emotion of the moment after Wednesday night’s Commons vote in favour of 42 days.

“Everyone at Westminster yesterday thought his decision mad,” it added. “Mr Davis’ job now is to prove all of them wrong.”

The pro-Tory Daily Telegraph said the shock should act as a wake-up call to the Conservatives. “It is no secret at Westminster that the top of the party is run by a small clique of which Mr Davis was not a part,” it says, calling such cabalism unworthy of a government in waiting.

But for the Times, Davis has made a big mistake. Under the headline “From bruiser to Loser”, it said: “David Davis may hold sincere convictions but he has put them and his party at risk for the sake of a disastrous ego trip.”

“Courageous” is how Conservative Leader David Cameron described the decision by his shadow home secretary, David Davis, to quit his parliamentary seat and force a by-election over the issue of pre-charge detention.

Davis says he will contest the seat to take a stand on the erosion of civil liberties caused by the proposal to extend to 42 days the time police can hold terrorism suspects without charge.

The opposition Liberal Democrats — who also oppose the extension — have already said they will not field a candidate, leaving the by-election a clear contest between Davis and a Labour opponent.

But the high risk move has already lost Davis his shadow cabinet post — he has been replaced by shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve — and could backfire if Labour is able to portray it as a split at the top of Cameron’s party.

Is Davis being courageous? Or just foolish?

Ed Balls had intended, by briefing political journalists on Monday, to take the media focus off personality and put it back on policy. Instead, he turned up the heat on an internal row with a bit of character assassination of his own.

In retaliation for Frank Field’s attack on Gordon Brown’s personality, Balls effectively accused him of acting dishonourably in his fight for compensation for those who have lost out from the abolition of the 10-pence tax band.

Field — who said Brown was “unhappy in himself” and prone to rages — was a loner on a mission to topple Brown, Balls intimated.

“I think people could look at what he was saying a few weeks ago and believe at that time that his intentions were honourable. As for what he said this morning, I think I leave you to draw your own conclusions from that,” Balls said. Throughout his political career, he had generally acted alone, he added.

Political hacks left the briefing looking gleeful at the prospect of a good story, suggesting Balls had not achieved his stated goal of putting the personality spat to bed.

The May 1 local election results and polling in the run-up to the Crewe and Nantwich by-election suggest the Field has public opinion on his side in his relentless assault on ministers over the tax blunder.

Balls’ counter-offensive on behalf of his boss could well backfire.