SNP would be ‘complacent’ to think Holyrood election is ‘in the bag’ – Alexander

The joint head of Scottish Labour’s election campaign accepted the party is the “underdog” for May’s Holyrood vote – but insisted the SNP would be being “complacent” if they “think they have this election in the bag”.

Douglas Alexander also vowed his party would “learn lessons” from Labour’s defeat in the Gorton and Denton Westminster by-election, where Sir Keir Starmer’s party was defeated by the Greens.

Mr Alexander said those involved in that campaign had “genuinely believed that Labour could win”.

Speaking to journalists at the Scottish Labour conference in Paisley in the wake of that by-election defeat, he said: “My sense is that colleagues down in Manchester genuinely believed that Labour was the party who was best placed to defeat Reform.”

He added: “We should be thankful that Reform were defeated, given their politics of polarisation and division.”

But Mr Alexander, the joint chairman of Scottish Labour’s campaign for the Holyrood election, said: “Ultimately we have to learn lessons from that campaign and we will apply them not just in this campaign but in campaigns to come.”

The by-election defeat shows not only that “voters are frustrated” but also that “this electorate is volatile”, Mr Alexander insisted.

He added that while “there have been difficult headlines for Labour over recent weeks and months” he was confident Labour could “persuade voters in Scotland that we can do better and offer a better future for Scotland come May”.

Polls currently suggest Labour will come in behind both the SNP and Reform, but Mr Alexander cited examples where support had changed during the campaign period.

The MP said that in the 2011 campaign, which ended with the SNP winning a historic majority in the Scottish Parliament, there had been a “significant shift in polling numbers during the short campaign”, adding that there had been a “period when Scottish Labour was ahead”.

He also recalled that in the first ever Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 “the SNP were actually ahead of us and we pulled our lead back”.

Mr Alexander continued: “In that sense I think it would be a misjudgement and complacent on the part of the SNP to think that they have this election in the bag, when ultimately the choice will rest with the Scottish people.”

In the 10 weeks in the run up to polling day he said Labour would “stay focused, recognise the depth of frustration that the majority of Scots feel with this SNP Government, work to secure their support and prove ourselves”.

He stated: “We take nothing for granted as far as this election in Scotland is concerned, we start this campaign as the underdog.”

But speaking about Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Mr Alexander said he had “great faith in Anas’ persuasion and capacity to win an argument with John Swinney about what the future holds for Scotland”.