“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.

In Crewe and Nantwich voters were palpably enthused by the prospect of giving Gordon Brown and Labour a good kicking. They were aware of the national significance of a Tory victory and relished the chance to send Brown a stern message. Turnout was a high 58 percent and the Conservatives achieved a massive 17.6 percent swing to win the seat in May.

A walk around the housing estates and shabby shopping complexes of Glasgow East tells a different story. Many locals frown and scurry off when asked their political views. Others who do stop and talk express indifference. The by-election may be a two-horse race between Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP) but apathy is running a close third. Turnout here was less than 50 percent in the 2005 general election and is expected to be much lower next week, particularly because of summer school holidays.

But Labour is braced for a thrashing and a drastically reduced majority. Lifelong Labour supporters said they were switching to the SNP or even to the Conservatives, who barely make it on to the political map in Scotland. Diehard Labour loyalists — people who vote for Labour because their mother, father and grandparents did — may just help Brown hold on to the seat but Labour appears to be losing the support amongst the working class that it has relied on in Scotland for decades.

Take Scottish pensioners Sarah Carlin and Catherine Matheson. They have voted for the Labour Party since they can remember but both said they plan to switch allegiances next Thursday. Carlin, 64, may vote Conservative, if she votes at all, while Matheson will plump for the SNP.

“I’ve worked all my days and I don’t get anything. I pay for my glasses, I pay for my teeth. I’m going to try the Conservatives. I’m sick of it,” said Carlin, having tea after an exercise class at the Tollcross Park Leisure Centre in Glasgow’s deprived east end.

Other “eastenders” have lost faith in politicians, worn down by what they see as a failure to tackle the crime and drug addiction that plagues the sprawling constituency.

Michael McGonigle, who owns a butcher’s shop in the east end, said the area has got worse over the years, beset by drug addicts and dealers.

“I’m not voting. I don’t believe in any of them. They’re all in it for themselves,” said McGonigle, 38, as he sliced beef in his store on Tollcross Road. “You see them day and night, druggies, methodone junkies.”

A few doors down, Stephen Mclellan, 37, who owns his own grocery store, is similar disillusioned.

“Nothing gets done. They just promise. I’d like something to be done locally,” he said, pointing at the drains outside his shop that he said flood every time it rains or the boarded up flats opposite. “There are too many people on methodone. They sell it at the bus stop, there is no support. Put police on the streets and the place would be ten times better,” added McGonigle, who is unsure who he will vote for, if anyone.

Politically-engaged locals agreed that Labour could have lost here if Margaret Curran hadn’t agreed to stand. She is a local political heavyweight and an energetic campaigner. Local taxi driver Robert Kemp, 54, thinks “a gun was put to her head. They needed a big hitter, so they said, Margaret, come and save our position.”

Others said that if the charismatic Alex Salmond had been standing, rather than the lesser-known John Mason, the SNP could have pulled it off — a result that would certainly have sent shockwaves all the way to Downing Street and could have sealed the prime minister’s fate.

(photo shows Scottish Labour Party candidate Curran campaigning in Glasgow)

To nobody’s great surprise, David Davis swept home at the “liberties” by-election in his Yorkshire seat that he himself had engineered by resigning.

With neither of the other main parties standing, he was left to romp home in a field devoid of any serious rivals.

Davis says his stand was a shot across the bows of a government that he believes is crushing civil liberties by, among other things, trying to get the right to hold terrorist suspects for up to six weeks without charge.

Conservative leader David Cameron has been cool towards his gesture, Gordon Brown has called it a gimmick and several ratepayers in frugal Yorkshire have grumbled that the whole thing was a waste of public money.

What is your view. Bold stand or ego-trip?

Johnson scored a rating of 3, up from -7 at the end of April, while Cameron got rated 1, up from -5.

The PHI5000 tracker is based on replies from a politically balanced group of 5000 voters across the UK, who answer a survey every day for the site, which was launched in April and is powered by opinion pollsters YouGov.

The panel are asked daily questions on a rotation system, covering their attitudes to the whole political landscape. As part of this, politicshome tracks a wide range of political personalities, including Cameron’s and Johnson’s favourability ratings.

Because of the consistency of the sample and questionnaire of the tracker, the site is able to track subtle changes in public opinion, it says.

The election results for England and Wales at 8:00 p.m. with all 159 councils having officially declared.

	Councillors		Councils
Party	Won/lost	Total	Won/Lost	Total
Conservative	+256	3154	+12	65
Labour	-331	2368	-9	18
LibDem	+34	1805	1	12
Plaid Cymru	+33	207	-1	0
Other	5	893	0	0
NOC	-	-	-3	64
Councils declared out of 159 total			159

Source: BBC

“I will absolutely hold up my hands and say this is a promise I have not been able to deliver,” he told BBC Radio’s Today Programme on Tuesday.

As if to prove his point, a day later Cameron accused Gordon Brown at Prime Minister’s Questions of political calculation over the 10p tax abolition and the proposed extension of pre-trial terrorism suspect detention to 42 days.

A day before local elections in England and Wales, Cameron said: “With 10p it was about trying to pose as a tax cutter. This time (on 42 days) its about trying to pose as being tough on terror.”

To uproar Cameron added: “He is putting political calculation and self interest ahead of the right decisions on the national interest.”

Brown retorted: “This is the man who wants to be both tough on crime and hug a hoodie at the same time.

“This is the man where political calculation meant he cycled to work but at the same time he had the chauffeur-driven car coming behind.

“This is the man who is a shallow salesman and never addresses the substance of the issue.”

The exchange of personal comments was too much for Liberal Democrat MP Julia Goldsworthy who told BBC television afterwards that the language used was “more suited to the playground.”

“This is the one opportunity a week to hold the prime minister to account, and I think a lot of the rowdiness is a sad reflection on the behaviour in the House of Commons.”