If Sarwar fails then Starmer will fail. Their futures are inextricably linked

Scottish Labour needs to show it's up for fight

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NEXT May's Scottish election is an existential threat to the Scottish Labour Party. To lose a fifth Holyrood election in a row would lead to people asking what the party is for.

To come third, behind Reform, as a poll this week suggested, wouldn't be the road to oblivion because they would have already arrived. And the figures that put them third cannot be easily dismissed.

On Thursday they lost a council by-election in Whitburn where real votes were cast - to Reform. It's time for a rethink. It's time to fight.

There is no point in simply blaming Keir Starmer. Yes, his unpopularity is a drag anchor on Scottish Labour but it is also a reality that is unlikely to change before May. Nor is there any point in bitching about Anas Sarwar, who is now less popular than John Swinney.

The traditional circular firing squads of Scottish Labour aren't required until after the election. Instead they should try to concentrate on removing the need to form one.

Sarwar is one of the best communicators the party has ever had, he just doesn’t have anything to say that has any cut-through. Despite the spin that he was close to Starmer, that closeness didn’t seem to yield much in the UK Labour Government's first 12 months.

Now their futures are inextricably linked. If Sarwar fails, Starmer falls.