Scottish Labour leader accuses SNP of misinformation in its campaign and attacks Reform’s ‘dirty’ tactics
Scottish Labour’s surprise byelection win proves “the SNP’s balloon has burst”, a jubilant Anas Sarwar has said, after the popular local candidate, Davy Russell, defied predictions to beat the incumbent Scottish National party and fight off Reform UK’s “racist” campaigning in the central Scotland seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
The Scottish Labour leader told a victory rally in Hamilton town centre on Friday morning that his party had proved everyone wrong following speculation that Reform UK might push it into third place, as the rightwing populist party gained ground in Scotland for the first time.
“The reality is we proved the pollsters, the pundits, the political commentators and the bookies all wrong, and they are not understanding what is happening on the ground,” Sarwar said. “On the ground, people believe the SNP are done. The balloon has burst, people think they are a busted flush and they want them out.”
The byelection result proved to people across Scotland that only Scottish Labour could beat the SNP in 2026, he added, as he praised the results of “the most significant and best ground operation in any constituency in the history of the Scottish Labour party”.
