Voters in Hamilton chose hope over despair and more Scots will do the same next year
Scottish Labour has once again defied the odds. Last Thursday we proved the pollsters, the commentators and the bookies wrong by winning the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.
This is a fantastic victory for our new MSP Davy Russell and a win for the local community. This area now has a dedicated local champion representing them in the Scottish Parliament and demanding better from this failing SNP government.
But this result has significance for the whole of Scotland. The people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse have laid the first stone in the path to a Scottish Labour government in 2026.
They have set the terms of the Scottish Parliament election and made it absolutely clear that it will be a direct choice between the SNP and Scottish Labour.
A third decade of SNP government or a new direction with Scottish Labour. John Swinney as First Minister or me. That is the choice on the table – everything else is just noise.
We saw a preview of the SNP's deflection tactics over recent weeks, as the SNP talked up Reform for their own political gain. John Swinney's now-infamous claim that the by-election was between Reform and the SNP has aged like milk.
It was a shameful to misinformation campaign that did nothing but embolden Reform. But the truth is the SNP is reaching for desperate spin like this because it has nothing else to say.
Scotland has almost one in six Scots on an NHS waiting list. 10,000 children in temporary accommodation. And violence rife in our classrooms - it's no wonder the SNP cannot stand on its own record.
After 18 years in government the SNP is fresh out of ideas. It has no vision for the future and no hope to offer Scots. This is a tired government that has grown out of touch and run out of steam.
But this is not as good as it gets. Our country has so much talent, so much potential and such extraordinary natural resources. The people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse saw right through the SNP's dishonest campaign and issued a damning indictment on their record in government.
They rejected Reform's poisonous attempts to stoke fear and hopelessness in an attempt to divide us. Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse voted for a new direction.
They chose the politics of hope over the politics of despair. Next year - when the rest of Scotland gets a chance to have their say - I have no doubt that they will do the same.
Too many voters feel helpless
While I will be celebrating this important win, I will also be reflecting on what people are telling us. I had hundreds of conversations over the course of this campaign.
I spoke to people of all ages and backgrounds, and there was one consistent message ringing out clearly: the status quo isn't good enough.
People feel a sense of hopelessness – they can't rely on public services, the economy doesn't work for them, and politics feels detached from their lives.
I won't turn my back on those people. I recognise that the UK Labour government must go further and faster to deliver the change people are so desperate to see, but that is just one part of the answer here in Scotland.
From our NHS to our schools to our housing system, the SNP is responsible for so much of what is broken. I will work tirelessly to demonstrate that things can be better with a Scottish Labour government.
The truth is John Swinney and the SNP have been in charge for nearly two decades – if they had the answers we would have seen them by now. Meanwhile, Reform feed on hopelessness and despair – they don't want you to believe that things can improve.
Only one party will fight the Scottish Parliament elections on a positive vision for Scotland's future and that is Scottish Labour.
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Scottish Sun
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