Anas Sarwar has said he “absolutely” intends to remain as Scottish Labour leader, attributing the party’s dismal performance in the Holyrood election to a “national wave” against Labour across the United Kingdom. The party secured its worst result since devolution, returning only 17 MSPs to the Scottish Parliament.
Historic low for Scottish Labour
With Labour now tied for second place with Reform UK, a newcomer to Holyrood, Mr Sarwar acknowledged the outcome was “disappointing and hurtful”. The party also suffered significant losses in local council elections in England and lost control of the Senedd in Wales for the first time since devolution. Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Mr Sarwar insisted the election “came down to a big national wave and a general vibe we couldn’t change”.
Responsibility and reflection
The Scottish Labour leader accepted his “fair share of the responsibility” for the result, which saw the SNP returned to power for a fifth consecutive term. However, he maintained that “there was a national wave” against Labour, pointing to defeats across all parts of the UK. Mr Sarwar had previously called for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign in February.
He had hoped his party could replicate its success from the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election last year, where Labour defied polls to win. “Of course we thought we could replicate what happened in Hamilton across the country, and ultimately we failed to do so,” he said. Labour failed to hold that constituency in the election.
Pressed on campaign strategy, Mr Sarwar stated: “I as leader take full responsibility for the strategy of the campaign.” He added: “The reality, though, is we believed we could cut through the national noise, we had a campaign designed to try to cut through the national noise, but we failed to do so and ultimately that is why we got the result we did.”
Future plans
Asserting he would “absolutely” stay in post, Mr Sarwar said: “I see my job as holding my party together and making sure we play our part in Parliament, in the national interest, to hold this government to account.” However, he refused to commit to leading the party at the next Holyrood elections in five years. “I’ve got a job to do, I intend to do it and I want to work closely with my colleagues to try to deliver for the great people of Scotland,” he said.
He noted the “surprising thing” is that he is the longest-serving leader of any party at Holyrood, adding: “You don’t often hear that from a Scottish Labour politician.” Looking ahead, he emphasised that “this has to be a Parliament that holds the government to account, holds them on their record, holds them to the promises they made”. He concluded: “My responsibility now is to hold my party together, and secondly is to hold the newly elected SNP government to account on their record, on the promises they made and to make sure we have a parliament and a democracy that functions in Scotland.”
