Latest news with #HolyroodByelection
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Scottish Labour celebrates 'incredible' byelection win and hits out at Reform
Scottish Labour is celebrating an 'incredible' win in a pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating the incumbent SNP and fighting off Reform UK, whose campaign was condemned as racist, in a result that confounded predictions and will boost the party ahead of next year's Scottish parliamentary elections. Voters in the central Scotland seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse rallied round the popular local candidate Davy Russell after a toxic campaign during which Nigel Farage launched an unprecedented series of personal attacks on the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, that were called racist by the first minister and SNP leader, John Swinney
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Scottish Labour holds off surging Reform to win pivotal Holyrood byelection
Scottish Labour is celebrating an 'incredible' win in a pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating the incumbent SNP and fighting off Reform UK's 'racist' campaigning. The result confounded predictions and will boost the Labour Party ahead of next year's Scottish parliamentary elections. Voters in the central Scotland seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse rallied round the popular local candidate, Davy Russell, after a toxic campaign during which Nigel Farage launched an unprecedented series of personal attacks on the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, labelled racist by the SNP leader, John Swinney. In his acceptance speech, Mr Russell told jubilant supporters: 'This community has sent a message to Farage and his mob: the poison of Reform isn't us, it isn't Scotland and we don't want your division here.' READ MORE Posting on social media on Friday morning, UK prime minister Keir Starmer said people in Scotland 'have once again voted for change'. 'Next year there is a chance to turbo-charge delivery by putting Labour in power on both sides of the border.' The surprise win comes against the backdrop of national polls that placed Scottish Labour in third behind the SNP and Reform, with the party bearing the brunt of voter unhappiness with unpopular UK Labour polices. The SNP had been the clear favourites to hold the seat after a fiercely contested campaign called after the sudden death of the popular SNP MSP Christina McKelvie from breast cancer, but were beaten into second place, with Reform UK following close behind in third. As Reform seemingly gained ground from both the SNP and Scottish Labour in recent weeks, speculation grew that it might push Mr Sarwar's party into third place. But in the end, with a reasonably high turnout for a byelection of 44.2 per cent, Scottish Labour reaped the rewards of its highly targeted campaigning and well-organised get-out-the-vote operation to pull off an unexpected victory, winning with 8,559 votes. The SNP's Katy Loudon came second with 7,957 votes, narrowly beating Reform UK's Ross Lambie on 7,888. The Scottish Conservatives were left trailing on 1,621 votes. A buoyant Mr Sarwar said it was 'an incredible night', having proven the pundits, pollsters and bookies wrong. He told reporters that voters had sent three strong messages: 'First, people want a UK Labour government to go further and faster in improving their lives and I think that's a clear message to them. 'Secondly, they've had enough of this SNP government: after 18 years they've let communities around the country down. 'Third, they've rejected the politics of Nigel Farage and Reform and today the people and Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse have laid the first stone in the pathway to a Scottish Labour government next year.' Asked about the increasingly personal attacks he endured during the campaign, Mr Sarwar said: 'Nigel Farage looks at someone like me and it goes against his values and it makes him angry. What the vast majority of people in Scotland see is someone who is one of their own, is a Scot and is working hard to change the country.' Reform UK's Richard Tice, who attended the count, insisted that his party was 'thrilled to bits' with the result, and that third place still represented 'a massive boost' for the party, which has gained momentum in Scotland since the general election. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday morning, 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 byelection and just a few hundred votes of defeating the SNP, so it's an incredible result.' – Guardian
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Scottish Labour win pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating incumbent SNP and surging Reform UK
Scottish Labour has won a pivotal Holyrood byelection, beating the incumbent SNP and fighting off Reform UK's aggressive racist campaigning, in a remarkable turnaround of fortunes that will boost the party ahead of next year's Scottish parliamentary elections. Voters in the central Scotland seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse rallied round the popular local candidate Davy Russell after a toxic campaign that saw Nigel Farage launch an unprecedented series of personal racist attacks on Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. The Nationalists had been the clear favourites to hold the seat after a fiercely contested campaign called after the sudden death of popular SNP MSP Christina McKelvie from breast cancer, but were beaten into second place, with Reform UK trailing in third. With Reform UK seemingly gaining ground from both the SNP and Scottish Labour, the speculation had been that Reform UK might push Sarwar's party into third place. But in the end, with a reasonably high turnout for a byelection of 44.2%, Scottish Labour reaped the rewards of their highly targeted campaigning and well organised get-out-the-vote operation to pull off an unexpected victory.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Farage claims Scottish Labour councillor has defected to Reform
Nigel Farage has claimed a Scottish Labour councillor has defected to Reform UK on the eve of a pivotal Holyrood byelection, as he defended a controversial advert attacking Anas Sarwar that has prompted accusations of racism. The Reform leader said he would disclose the councillor's identity when he campaigned in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection later on Monday, with opinion polls suggesting Reform and Labour are neck-and-neck in Scotland, albeit behind the Scottish National party. Farage did not name the councillor but Scottish Labour sources were sceptical, and speculated whether it could be someone who had already quit the party to sit as an independent. Speaking as he unveiled another Scottish Conservative defector to Reform in Aberdeen – a local councillor called Duncan Massey – Farage played down the prospects of Reform delivering a shock win in Hamilton, despite its surge in England. 'We just don't know,' he said, at a press conference at the Silver Darling fish restaurant overlooking the mouth to Aberdeen harbour. 'Are we confident of coming third? Yes. Are we confident of coming second? Well, I don't know. If we do, it'll be a very nice surprise. 'Do I realistically think we can win? Well, if we do, then that will be the biggest earthquake Scottish politics has probably ever seen. You never know. On a low turnout election with a disenchanted electorate, I guess it's not impossible, but I think it's improbable.' Farage said he was buoyant about Reform's chances in Scotland. The latest opinion poll, by Norstat for the Sunday Times, has put his party one percentage point behind Scottish Labour in a Holyrood vote, at 18% and 19% respectively. Massey is the 13th councillor in Scotland, out of a total of 1,226, to have defected to Reform. The party has yet to win a single council or parliamentary seat in Scotland, but did come second ahead of Labour in a recent council byelection. Farage said he was justified in calling Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, 'sectarian' after Reform circulated a video of Sarwar praising the successes of Pakistanis in public life. With anti-Reform protesters loudly chanting outside, Farage claimed Sarwar meant south Asians wanted to 'take over the world', but admitted under questioning that Sarwar's speech was to commemorate Pakistan independence day. Sarwar, who was campaigning in Hamilton on Monday morning, said Farage's remarks were 'pathetic, poisonous and obviously deliberate misinformation'. Farage's focus on race was doing a disservice to voters he said, who 'should be hearing a debate about how they get investment in their town centres, how we improve their NHS facilities, how we give skills and opportunities to young people'. Farage was with his deputy leader, Richard Tice, to call for Westminster to drop the windfall levies and steeply cut taxes on North Sea oil and gas, and to drop the levies on household energy bills. Tice claimed that with the UK's North Sea reserves contributing only 1% of global emissions, limiting drilling and heavily taxing the sector was the 'greatest act of financial self-harm ever imposed on this nation'. Farage said the concept of net zero was misleading, since growing imports into the UK meant the country was off-shoring its carbon emissions. Instead, the UK ought to be mining Cumbrian coal to keep steel mills open, rather than importing it. He was asked three times by the Guardian whether it was Reform policy that all the world's oil, gas and coal reserves should be exploited, given he believed all the UK's fossil fuels should be burned, but refused to give a direct answer. 'You know, mankind this year is going to burn 8bn tonnes of coal,' he said. 'I share with you reservations about what this is doing to the atmosphere … But does it make sense to commit economic hara-kiri in this country, whilst this is happening across the rest of the world? No, better to refine in this country. Better to produce chemicals in this country. Better to manufacture cement.' Pressed by the BBC on whether extracting all the UK's North Sea oil and gas reserves would cut energy prices, he acknowledged they were traded globally. It would increase jobs and wealth for those firms involved, he said.
