Saturday 24th of October 2009
Bingo club welcomes Alex Salmond
He may be First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party, but Alex Salmond also has another job - bingo caller.
Unlikely as it may sound, Mr Salmond called the numbers in front of approximately 100 players at a bingo club in Glasgow on Friday, October 30th 2009.
The Scottish National Party leader took to the stage to promote the candidacy of David Kerr, a former BBC journalist, in the Glasgow North East by-election later this month.
On Thursday, November 12th, constituents will elect a successor to former House of Commons speaker Michael Martin who stepped down over the expenses row.
Labour, which currently enjoys a majority of 10,000, has held the seat for the last 74 years but an improbable occurrence at the bingo club suggests all that may be about to change.
Fate plays a hand in bingo win
The winning bingo number was none other than 74, prompting Mr Salmond to joke "you can't fight fate".
"I think folk in Glasgow North East like underdogs," he explained. "A lot of folk in Glasgow North East have been underdogs and they like the idea of the SNP trying to unseat 74 years of Labour hold in this seat."
Bingo has attracted some other celebrity fans in recent months.
In August, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, took part in a prize bingo game to celebrate Yorkshire Day and raise money for good causes.
And the following month, Ulrika Johnson began calling numbers as the host of a new bingo show on digital TV.
