Anas Sarwar accuses John Swinney of trying to ‘dupe' voters after Labour's shock by-election victory
The tight three-way outcome comes despite the First Minister claiming it was "a two-horse race between the SNP and Farage"
'SHAMEFUL' Anas Sarwar accuses John Swinney of trying to 'dupe' voters after Labour's shock by-election victory
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ANAS Sarwar today accused John Swinney of trying to "dupe" voters in the Hamilton by-election after Labour's shock victory.
The Scottish Labour branded the First Minister as 'shameful' over the SNP leader's bid to make Scots think the poll was a two-horse race between the SNP and Reform - when Labour ultimately emerged as winners.
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Labour's Davy Russell was elected as the new MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
Credit: John Kirkby
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John Swinney was left humiliated today after his false claim the Hamilton vote was a "two horse race"
Credit: PA
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Scottish Labour leader Sarwar today accused the FM of trying to "dupe" voters
Credit: PA
Mr Swinney was left humiliated today after his false claim the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse vote was straight fight with Nigel Farage's party.
When the votes were counted, Labour's Davy Russell polled 8,559, the SNP's Katy Loudon was second on 7,957 votes, and Reform's Ross Lambie secured 7,088.
The tight three-way outcome comes despite the First Minister claiming it was "a two-horse race between the SNP and Farage" - widely seen as a bid to get Labour voters to switch to the SNP.
Mr Sarwar said the result showed voters can "no longer can they be duped by John Swinney and the SNP".
He told reporters in Hamilton this morning: "John Swinney ran a shameful campaign in this election campaign and let me tell you why.
"Yes it was right to call out the lies and the dirt of Nigel Farage and reform but actually what John Swinney did was also unacceptable because he tried a campaign of misinformation and just think after 18 years of a party being in government they didn't run a campaign on a positive record because they don't have one.
"They didn't run a campaign based on the issues facing the people here in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Instead, the big message was to vote SNP to stop Farage, and all that did was demonstrate that this is a party that is devoid of ideas, devoid of energy and is now running down the clock to be removed from office. and all it did was try to drive people into the arms of reform and Nigel Farage.
"That is not going to work next year."
And Mr Sarwar added: "The SNP have run out of ideas and they run out of steam. The balloon has burst. The people have changed their minds.
'They know the SNP have failed them, and they want them out.'
Anas Sarwar reacts to Labour's shock win and reveals why voters backed the party
Mr Swinney spoke in Edinburgh this morning and was asked about his false "two-horse race" claim.
"You wrote to voters last week that this was basically a two-horse race and the only way to stop reform was to vote SNP because Labour had no hope here. What did you get wrong in that assessment?"
The First Minister said in response: "What we could see on the doorsteps was what really has transpired in this election.
"The Labour vote was collapsing and it has since the election last summer and the Reform vote was rising and rising significantly.
"So the warning I gave to voters last week was absolutely correct because Labour were falling and Reform were rising and the SNP was the party that I judged on the basis of what I was seeing last week was strong enough to defeat Reform.
"Now, thankfully the politics, the poisonous politics of Farage have not won last night. But there's a warning for all of us in the presence of Reform and the appeal that Reform has, and that means that people like me have got to make sure we address the core priorities and concerns of members of the public in Scotland."
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said his party was "delighted" with its 26 per cent vote share - having polled just 58 votes in the seat in the 2021 Holyrood election.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "It's truly remarkable. We've come from nowhere to being in a three-way marginal, and we're within 750 votes of winning that by-election and just a few hundred votes of defeating the SNP, so it's an incredible result."
At the election count earlier, Mr Tice had said he was "thrilled to bits" with the result.
The final vote shares saw Labour on 8,559 or 31.6 per cent, the SNP on 7,957 or 29.4 per cent, Reform UK on 7,088 or 26.1 per cent, and the Scottish Conservatives on 1,621 or 6.0 per cent
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