Gordon Brown will hold discussions today with local Labour Party officials about the timing of the Glenrothes by-election, with some in the party believing that a case can be made for holding the crucial poll as early as September 11.

The informal talks will be held after the funeral takes place today in Burntisland of John MacDougall, the sitting MP, who died last week from an asbestos-related lung disease. Mr Brown, who is on holiday at his home in Fife, will attend the funeral of a politician who was a long-time friend and colleague.

Until now, it has been widely accepted that the by-election, in which Labour holds a majority of almost 11,000, would be held in late October or even early November to allow Mr Brown's “autumn fightback” to have an impact in voters.

Mr Brown and his allies are hoping that a fighting speech by the Prime Minister at the party's conference in late September, a package of economic measures in October intended to help hard-pressed families and a Cabinet reshuffle would form a platform to allow Labour to win back support.

There is a school of thought in Labour circles in Scotland, however, that defeat in the by-election in October would undo all that and bring Mr Brown's fightback to earth only weeks after it had been launched.

A senior party source in Scotland said that there were grounds for holding the by-election early rather than late. “It would get the bad news out of the way quickly and Gordon could use his conference speech to rally support. What's the point of a relaunch in September if the impact is completely snuffed out in October?”

However, it is thought that Mr Brown is still in favour of a delay in the hope that the SNP, now hot favourites to take Glenrothes after their spectacular triumph last month in Glasgow East, will run into political trouble over the next two months.

The Prime Minister is also conscious that a by-election in Glenrothes in September would overshadow the final stages of the contest for the leadership of Labour at Holyrood, with the winner to be announced on September 13.

Much attention has been focused in Scotland on who the Labour candidate will be in Glenrothes, with speculation mounting that Henry McLeish, the former First Minister at Holyrood and a former MP and MSP for the constituency when it was known as Central Fife, is considering putting his name forward. Mr McLeish is expected to make his intentions known this week.

Others being considered include Mark Hood, a local Labour councillor, and John Park, a Labour MSP, although the latter is thought to be reluctant to stand.

The SNP are 1-4 on to take the seat and the required swing of 14.25 per cent is much less than the 22 per cent swing that the Nationalists achieved in Glasgow East.

Mr Brown decided to follow the normal convention and did not campaign in Glasgow East. However, some of his Scottish MPs do not believe that he can stay away entirely from the Glenrothes campaign. One said: “It's Fife, so it's Gordon's home territory. There are times when conventions have to be thrown out of the window and this is one of them.”

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