Are the SNP about to win despite their candidate?

The SNP crowd is on the pitch – they think it’s all over. And the latest speculation I have picked up – amazingly – is a four-figure SNP majority. If the SNP do win, one thing should go on the record – John Mason, their candidate, was perhaps the worst of the main four candidates. He could hardly ever turn up without Alex Salmond by his side, doing the talking. He’s just turned up to the count, fists in the air victoriously and hugging colleagues in a way that you just don’t do at a by-election – until you win. The Tory, Davena Rankin, could have come straight from David Cameron’s dreams – mixed race, single mother, trade unionist, very articulate and very Tory. Margaret Curran, Labour’s candidate, was feisty and put up an admirable fight. Her brio was partly why I thought Labour would keep the seat. But without the activists, or a clue about where her voters live, there was only so much she can do. She was smart enough not to mention Gordon Brown once, or have him in any leaflet. Ian Robertson, the LibDem candidate, is being hailed as “one to watch” by the party due to his television performance – even if he does end up being beaten into fourth place. And Mason has less charisma than any of them – a nerdy guy, with a fairly undistinguished career in local politics. And for a guy called “Mason” to take a Catholic seat like Glasgow East just adds to the incredulity of what appears to be about to happen