Hamilton win vindicates the party's strategy

Labour's victory in Hamilton is both a surprise and a vindication - in a byelection, shocks can take different forms.

- Severin Carrell

It is a surprise to those who felt certain of a Scottish National party victory, who saw Labour's support plummeting in the Scottish opinion polls and Reform's steeply rising.

The question became: would Labour scrape home in second, behind an experienced and personable SNP candidate, or even endure the humiliation of coming third behind a resurgent Reform?

After all, it seemed the candidate, Davy Russell, was ill-equipped, so much so his party refused to put him up for a live television debate.

But for Scottish Labour's strategists this is vindication.