Cameron foresees 'battle' ahead

David Cameron said Ruth Davidson would fight a "positive campaign"

Conservative leader David Cameron admitted his party faces a "battle" in the Glasgow North East by-election as he joined the campaign trail.

He promised a clean campaign during a visit to the constituency with Conservative candidate Ruth Davidson.

Earlier it was confirmed the election would take place on 12 November, prompting the SNP and Lib Dems to criticise the delay in naming a date.

The Labour candidate will formally launch his campaign on Monday.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of Commons Speaker Michael Martin, who had held the seat since 1979. He entered the Lords this week.

He had a 10,134 majority in 2005, although neither the Tories nor the Liberal Democrats stood against him.

Mr Cameron toured the McGhee's bakery factory site along with Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie and David Mundell, Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.

Independence vote

He said Labour had failed people in Glasgow and pointed out that he was the first party leader on the campaign trail.

He said: "We'll be fighting a positive campaign.

"Ruth's saying let's clean up politics, let's clean up expenses. She's out on the doorstep calling for support."

Asked about calls for a Scottish referendum on independence, Mr Cameron said: "All the opinion polls that I see suggest that actually people in Scotland don't want to break with the United Kingdom.

"Actually when you look at what Alex Salmond has been doing, he knows that.

"That's why he's always talking about the process and moving a bit closer. Actually that's rubbish."

'Long overdue'

Meanwhile, Labour's candidate Willie Bain, a law lecturer, was handing out leaflets in the constituency ahead of his campaign launch on Monday.

SNP candidate David Kerr, who along with Ruth Davidson is a former BBC journalist, was at the party's annual conference in Inverness, criticising Labour for taking so long to set a date for the election.

Lib Dem hopeful, former social worker Eileen Baxendale also said the official confirmation of the by-election date was "long overdue".

Other declared candidates are:

Kevin McVey (Scottish Socialist Party)

David Doherty (Scottish Green Party)

Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity Party)

John Swinburne (Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party)

Charlie Baillie (BNP)

John Smeaton (The Jury Team)