Anas Sarwar sets sights on SNP at Holyrood in 2026 after huge gains in Scotland

Anas Sarwar immediately set his sights on a Labour victory at Holyrood after Labour won the majority of Scottish Westminster seats.

He said in the space of three years Labour has gone from being in third place and 32 points behind the SNP to winning back seats across the country.

Speaking with a large group of the new MPs in Glasgow on the banks of the River Clyde, the Scottish Labour leader said the Westminster win was the ‘first stage’ of a process of change that he aims to finish when the next Holyrood election to form the Scottish Government come around in 2026.

He said the memory of the 2019 General Election was still with him.

With one seat still to declare Labour is on 37 with the SNP on 9 with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats having won 5 each.

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He said: “If we look at the last General Election I remember being at the count and the feeling that night. I remember it was devastating, the worst result since 1910 with one MP.”

He added: “Three years on” Labour has gone from that position to “winning seats and winning a majority of seats”.

Sarwar said: “We have spent the last three years changing the Labour Party asking people for their support and trust.

“Today the hard work for change begins.

That work he said was taking over from John Swinney and the SNP in the Scottish Government.

With one seat still to declare Labour has won a majority of seats in Scotland.

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At the count, in the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Sarwar said: “Thank you to people right across Scotland for putting their trust in the Labour Party.

“This is a changed Labour Party and tomorrow that work begins. This is the first stage in getting rid of a 14-year Tory Government that’s done so much damage to our country.

“That hard work starts tomorrow but the hard work of that second stage of change starts tomorrow too and that’s when we look ahead to the election in 2026.”

The SNP lost 38 of the 48 seats in held at Westminster on a night where they lost all six of the Glasgow seats to Labour.

John Swinney SNP leader and First Minister said the SNP failed to convince people on independence.

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He said: "The Scottish National Party needs to be healed and it needs to heal its relationship with the people of Scotland, and I am absolutely committed to doing that.

"I have to accept we failed to convince people of the urgency of independence in this election campaign.

"Therefore, we need to take the time to consider and to reflect on how we deliver our commitment to independence - which remains absolute."