Brown’s former base is a bellwether seat

Kirkcaldy is considered a bellwether for the rest of Scotland.

Th e La n g To u n wa s under Labour’s control for generations until a political tsunami saw it claimed by the SNP in 2015.

The town was represented by Gordon Brown in his tenure as Chancellor and Prime Minister, and considered among the safest of Labour seats - in 2010, his vote went up to the extent th a t al l hi s ch a l l e n g e r s combined would not have been able to unseat him.

Mr Brown took some 64 per cent of the overall vote on the back of strong personal support, but the sea change of 2015 saw Roger Mullin storm home with a majorit y of nearly 10,000 as t he SNP made a clean 0 Gordon Brown is a former incumbent s we ep a c r o s s Fi fe’s f o u r constituencies for the first time.

La b o u r ha s id e n t i f i e d Kirkcaldy as one they want back i n 2017 after a solid lo cal performance in the council elections.

Ke y is s u e s fa c i n g th e candidates centre include employment in b oth key towns - the former mining strongholds have suffered badly since the pits shut - and the on- going regeneration of Kirkcaldy’s town c e nt r e , onc ec o nsi de re d the jewel in Fife’s shopping crown.