HE'S a man of mystery, even his own party can't find a picture of him.

But Daniel O'Donnell is hoping to emerge from the shadows when he stands in the by-election for the Bailieston seat in the local election on September 18.

The Scottish Socialist Party candidate will contest the seat with eight other hopefuls.

They are all trying to win the seat left vacant when John Mason, former SNP group leader in the City Chambers, snatched the Glasgow East seat from Labour in a shock by-election result in July toppling a 13,507 majority to take the seat by 365 votes.

The victory, which represented a massive swing of 22.5% to the SNP, was hailed a political earthquake.

Glasgow East was regarded as Labour's third safest seat in Scotland and its loss sent shock waves through the party.

First Minister Alex Salmond insisted the result was a "judgment" on the performances of the Scottish and UK Governments.

He said: "The policy that needs to be changed is on the economy. We need a plan for recovery, we need a plan to stave off recession.

"We need action taken to ease the pressure on household budgets in Glasgow East and across Scotland."

If replicated in a General Election, the Glasgow East result would not only unseat Gordon Brown but leave Labour in Scotland with one solitary MP.

Mr Mason, who served as a councillor for 10 years, was the longest serving SNP councillor in the City Chambers.

Voters in Baillieston will go to the polls on September 18 to elect a new councillor for the area.

The following candidates are contesting the seat: John Anderson, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Charles Baillie, British National Party Moira Crawford, Scottish Green Party Ian Dickie, SUP, Proudly Scottish, Proudly British David Jackson, Scottish Liberal Democrats Tricia McLeish, Solidarity:Tommy Sheridan Andy Muir, Scottish Labour Party Daniel O'Donnell, Scottish Socialist Party - Scrap Council tax David Turner, Scottish National Party.