What has become of the Labour Party in Scotland?

One of the more serious casualties of the Labour government’s troubles and consequent unpopularity is Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Through no fault of his own, Sarwar has gone from being the favourite to end SNP rule in Scotland and become the first Labour first minister since 2007, to a point where he’ll be lucky if he manages to beat Reform UK into second place in next year's elections for the Scottish parliament. A painful turn of events. He might be forgiven for wondering how this happened...

How bad is it for Scottish Labour?

Well, they are running at about 17 per cent in the polls, half the level enjoyed by the SNP, and there have been unhelpful stories in the press about divisions between the party at Westminster and its Holyrood presence.

The current Scottish secretary, Douglas Alexander, a close ally of Keir Starmer, returned to the Commons last year, and was soon put in charge of the next Scottish parliament election campaign. In the last reshuffle he replaced the popular and blameless Ian Murray, which prompted some discomfiture in Scottish Labour circles and at Westminster, even though there was also some friction between Sarwar and Murray. Scottish Labour has long suffered from the perception that London treats it as a “branch office”.

Why has this happened?

For much the same reasons as Labour has slumped in England and in Wales - a tough economic backdrop and social tensions, exacerbated by avoidable scandals and mistakes.