Does by-election win mean Labour has stopped the rot?

Against expectations, Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for the Scottish parliament.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Anas Sarwar, its leader in Scotland, hailed the result as an “incredible victory” and declared that voters are “tired of SNP failure” but have “rejected Reform’s poison”.

However, with a little less than a year before the next elections at Holyrood, it’s by no means clear who the next first minister will be.

What happened in Hamilton?

The by-election was held following the death earlier this year of Scottish government minister, Christina McKelvie. Labour's Davy Russell won after a swing of more than 7 per cent from the SNP to Labour, with 8,559 votes, beating SNP candidate Katy Loudon on 7,957 and Reform's Ross Lambie on 7,088.

Mr Sarwar said: “The choice is stark next year ... it is about choosing a government here in Scotland. The choice is stark – a third decade of the SNP with John Swinney as first minister or a new direction for Scotland with me as first minister.”