David Cameron says he will be campaigning in Fife for the Glenrothes by-election, and has challenged the prime minister to join him."I hope that Gordon Brown will rise to the challenge of campaigning in his own backyard, so that the voters can see for themselves the choices on offer," the Tory leader said. "It is time for him to stop running scared and to stand up and be counted. I will be in Glenrothes. Will he?" Mr Brown has relied on the convention that prime ministers do not campaign during by-elections to avoid overtly associating himself with the damaging results of Crewe and Nantwich and Glasgow East. That convention was shaken by Tony Blair's decision to repeatedly break it during his premiership, however. Not only that, but as the MP of a neighbouring constituency, Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Mr Brown is taking on the workload of deceased Labour MP John MacDougall until the vote. Mr Cameron's challenge came as the party announced its candidate for the seat, Maurice Golden, 28, a former student leader. Mr Cameron said: "I will be campaigning and supporting Maurice on the streets of Glenrothes. He is a first-class candidate, bursting with energy and enthusiasm." The Glenrothes by-election will be two horse race between Labour and the Scottish National party (SNP). Labour have 10,664 majority, but party insiders admit they consider themselves underdogs.
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