Inverclyde by-election gets all , er, cuddly

I have to admit I'm baffled by the relevance of the teddy bear in this photo but it must be a vote winner or the most successful election-winning machine on the planet wouldn't have put it on an SNP leaflet.

No one is taking a punt on the outcome of the Greenock and Inverclyde by election this Thursday either. Labour are feeling "frisky", one of their people told me today, and reckon they have the SNP on the run.

With a Westminster majority of over 14,000 they should have the SNP grizzlies chased into the Paisley Braes by now but these are changed days in Scotland.

Duncan MacNeil (big brown bear) scrapped home for Labour with a 511 majority at the Scottish elections so anything could happen.

The SNP (Care Bear Bunch) are playing down their chances in the hope of an upset in another Labour heartland that will continue their May momentum.

That, as they say on the Main Street, would be a "baw breaker" for Labour, already floored by the Scottish election debacle. SNH would have to set up an urban nature reserve for Scottish Labour politicans to allow them to roam around like they did in the old days.

But if the campaign has been more teddy bears than grizzly bears then it will come down to which camp can get their core vote out on the day.

It may even depend on what the Yogi Bears, the rump Lib Dem support in the constituency, decide to do. Like you, I can bearly wait for the result to see if the recent SNP gains have polarised (oh, yes) voters.