Anas Sarwar admits Keir Starmer's time in power has been tough - but he's confident Scottish Labour will oust SNP

19 February 2025, 18:55 | Updated: 19 February 2025, 20:54

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said the last seven months of Sir Keir Starmer's government have been hard - but he is confident his party will oust the SNP from power next year.

Mr Sarwar, a close ally of the Sir Keir, was speaking to Sky News ahead of his party's conference in Glasgow this weekend - which the prime minister is expected to attend.

The polls had Labour on course to form the next Scottish government at the Holyrood elections in 2026 after capitalising on the SNP's misfortunes amid a bitter leadership contest, and senior figures being involved in a police embezzlement investigation.

The PM stormed to victory in last year's general election, securing 37 of the 57 Scottish seats. They only had one MP at the beginning of the previous parliament.

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However, a dramatic change in fortunes now leaves Scottish Labour potentially battling for second place at Holyrood amid a turbulent time with winter fuel payment woes and a row over the treatment of Waspi women.

A recent Notstat poll, commissioned for The Sunday Times, suggested Mr Sarwar may struggle to overtake the Scottish Conservatives as the official opposition in Edinburgh.

Striking an optimistic tone of the challenges he faces in the coming months, Mr Sarwar said he is "confident" there will be a Scottish Labour government next year.

Mr Sarwar said: "There's no secret there have been challenges in the last seven months, but there hasn't really been a focus on what the choice is in May 2026 and that fundamental choice in 2026 is going to be more decline, more incompetence with the SNP.

"I've been really open with Keir in private and in public that my objective, my plan of course was to help get rid of the Tories, of course was to help elect a UK Labour government - but my ambition was to use the general election as a stepping stone to electing a Scottish Labour government here in 2026, and I'm still confident that is exactly what will happen.

"I have proven the pollsters and the pundits and the commentators wrong many times over the last four years, and I'm confident that we'll prove them wrong again."

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Scottish Labour has been heavily criticised over its handling of the impending closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery this summer.

Mr Sarwar pledged to voters ahead of the general election that his party would "step in and save the jobs" by "investing hundreds of millions of pounds".

Some 400 workers, who face unemployment, have started receiving their redundancy notices in recent weeks as the political promises fail to come to fruition.

Asked repeatedly by Sky News whether it was a "mistake" to make pledges that could not be delivered, Mr Sarwar said: "Look. I'm deeply frustrated about this.

"We need further action both, and let me emphasise this, not just from the Scottish government, it requires more urgent action from a UK Labour government too."

(c) Sky News 2025: Anas Sarwar admits Keir Starmer's time in power has been tough - but he's confident Scottish Labour will oust SNP