‘Underdog’ Anas Sarwar insists Labour can win Scottish election in 10 weeks

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he intends to win May’s Holyrood election – though he accepted he has “always been the underdog”.

Mr Sarwar was also clear that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had not been asked to attend Friday’s Scottish Labour conference.

The event, taking place in Paisley, comes after Mr Sarwar became the most senior figure in the party to call for Sir Keir to step down.

Mr Sarwar insisted the UK Labour leader was “never coming to this conference”.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme, he said: “I am the candidate for first minister, Keir Starmer is not on the ballot paper.”

The conference comes as polls suggest Labour could come third in the Holyrood ballot, behind the SNP and Reform.

The event is taking place just hours after Labour suffered defeat in Gorton and Denton – where Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was barred for standing for the party – with the Greens securing their first ever Westminster by-election victory.

Mr Sarwar told Breakfast that was a “deeply disappointing” result, adding it “demonstrates that people everywhere feel angry, feel frustrated and the electorate is volatile”.

However he cautioned against using Labour’s defeat to forecast the outcome of the May 7 election in Scotland.

Mr Sarwar said: “In Scotland the establishment for the last 20 years has been the SNP, and I think that will be a very different framing for an election in 10 weeks’ time here in Scotland.”

While he insisted he has “always been the underdog”, Mr Sarwar pointed to his party’s success in winning the Rutherglen and Hamilton West Westminster by-election from the SNP in 2023, and the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election from John Swinney’s party in 2025, along with wins in Scotland in the 2024 general election.

Mr Sarwar declared: “They say we can’t win this Scottish election, and I am telling you right now in this 10 weeks I intend to win this election and build a different future for Scotland.

“The people in Scotland know that the choice they face in 10 weeks is whether we have a new government and new first minister, and only I can deliver that.

“Reform can’t win here, the SNP don’t deserve to win.

“In constituency after constituency across this great country, only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP.

“So if people want to get rid of this SNP Government, if they want to end the SNP establishment, if they want to make sure we fix our NHS and make it fit for the future, if they want to guarantee those opportunities for young people, the only way of doing that is backing the party best placed to beat the SNP, and in constituency after constituency and across Scotland, that is Scottish Labour.”

He said his focus in the 10 weeks before the election will be on “changing the first minister and electing a new government here in Scotland”.

Urging people to base their decision on who to vote for on matters in Scotland – rather than on Labour’s record at Westminster – Mr Sarwar added: “We have huge challenges here in Scotland, and I don’t think our NHS, our schools, our towns, cities and villages should pay the price of another decade of SNP Government because people have a frustration with a Government somewhere else that has only been in around two years.

“Whether you do it with anger, whether you do it with frustration, whether you do it with enthusiasm, whether you hold your nose and do it, if you want to get rid of the SNP, the only party and the only person that can do it is me.”