Latest news with #byElection
BreakingNews.ie
5 hours ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Farage has brought ‘racism and hatred' to Hamilton by-election, says Swinney
Nigel Farage has been accused of 'racism and hatred' by John Swinney in the last weekend of campaigning before polls open in the Hamilton by-election. The Scottish first minster hit out at the Reform UK leader, claiming he was a 'real threat' ahead of voting in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on Thursday. Advertisement Criticism has been levelled at Mr Farage's party after a Facebook ad claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was prioritising Pakistani people over Scots and included a section of a speech in which he encouraged more people from south Asian backgrounds to enter politics. Nigel Farage (Ben Whitley/PA) Addressing activists – including a number of MSPs, former MPs and candidates for the 2026 Holyrood election – in Hamilton on Saturday, Mr Swinney contrasted Reform UK with former minister Christina McKelvie, whose death prompted the by-election. 'This is a by-election that none of us wanted to be fighting, because it meant that we'd lost somebody we loved, Christina McKelvie, who was an individual that represented generosity, tolerance and inclusion,' he said. 'That was how she went about her work in this constituency and in Parliament, and that's the antithesis of what's been brought into this by-election campaign by the politics of Nigel Farage, who's brought racism and hatred right into the heart of this community, and it is repugnant. Advertisement 'We are going to stand up to it in every way we can.' In response to journalists, the first minister said he was not concerned about defamation claims stemming from his allegations of racism against Mr Farage. When the by-election was called, it was widely seen as a two-horse race between the SNP's Katy Loudon and Labour's Davy Russell, but recent weeks have seen a surge in fortune for Mr Farage's party. Speaking to the PA news agency after his speech, the first minister said it is 'very clear' that Labour is 'out of this contest' and it is now 'between the SNP and Farage'. Advertisement 'I want to make sure that Farage's politics don't get any hold in Scotland, they are damaging,' he said. In his speech, the first minister repeatedly referenced Mr Farage, but when asked if he was increasing the chance of Reform gaining a foothold by paying the party's leader so much attention, Mr Swinney said: 'I've just got to make sure that people in this constituency are aware of the threat that Farage poses in this election. 'If Farage gets in here, then you know the agenda of NHS privatisation is what will follow, the agenda of undermining the Scottish Parliament will follow, because that's what he believes in.' Elsewhere in Hamilton on Saturday, Reform UK's candidate Ross Lambie gathered activists ahead of a canvassing session, including some bussed into the constituency from the north of England. Advertisement Speaking to journalists, Mr Lambie was asked why the parties believed to be the frontrunners at the beginning of the campaign were spending so much time on Reform. 'They're doing their canvassing and they're getting the same results as we are, that's why,' he said. He added: 'We are super proud that we're not being pigeon-holed with any particular voter and we're not being boxed into certain aspects of the community. 'We're getting votes from across the area. Advertisement 'If you were to chat to these volunteers, you'll find some of them were SNP voters in the past, many of them were Labour voters, Conservative voters. 'So that's the thing we're most proud of, that we're breaking down those old barriers in Scottish politics.' Anas Sarwar (Andrew Milligan/PA) Mr Sarwar said Labour is still in the race for the seat in Thursday's vote. 'It's between ourselves and the SNP, every single vote is going to count,' he told PA on Saturday. 'That's why, if you want to beat the SNP, if you want a local champion, if you want to start that pathway to a new direction, the best way of doing that is to vote for one of your own – vote for Davy Russell.' The Labour leader also accused the first minister of 'talking up Reform for a very, very long time', an assertion Mr Swinney rejects, while saying he would 'call out Nigel Farage's poison'.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Farage has brought ‘racism and hatred' to Hamilton by-election, says Swinney
Nigel Farage has been accused of 'racism and hatred' by John Swinney in the last weekend of campaigning before polls open in the Hamilton by-election. The Scottish First Minster hit out at the Reform UK leader, claiming he was a 'real threat' ahead of voting in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on Thursday. Criticism has been levelled at Mr Farage's party after a Facebook ad claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was prioritising Pakistani people over Scots and included a section of a speech in which he encouraged more people from south Asian backgrounds to enter politics. Addressing activists – including a number of MSPs, former MPs and candidates for the 2026 Holyrood election – in Hamilton on Saturday, Mr Swinney contrasted Reform UK with former minister Christina McKelvie, whose death prompted the by-election. 'This is a by-election that none of us wanted to be fighting, because it meant that we'd lost somebody we loved, Christina McKelvie, who was an individual that represented generosity, tolerance and inclusion,' he said. 'That was how she went about her work in this constituency and in Parliament, and that's the antithesis of what's been brought into this by-election campaign by the politics of Nigel Farage, who's brought racism and hatred right into the heart of this community, and it is repugnant. 'We are going to stand up to it in every way we can.' In response to journalists, the First Minister said he was not concerned about defamation claims stemming from his allegations of racism against Mr Farage. When the by-election was called, it was widely seen as a two-horse race between the SNP's Katy Loudon and Labour's Davy Russell, but recent weeks have seen a surge in fortune for Mr Farage's party. Speaking to the PA news agency after his speech, the First Minister said it is 'very clear' that Labour is 'out of this contest' and it is now 'between the SNP and Farage'. 'I want to make sure that Farage's politics don't get any hold in Scotland, they are damaging,' he said. In his speech, the First Minister repeatedly referenced Mr Farage, but when asked if he was increasing the chance of Reform gaining a foothold by paying the party's leader so much attention, Mr Swinney said: 'I've just got to make sure that people in this constituency are aware of the threat that Farage poses in this election. 'If Farage gets in here, then you know the agenda of NHS privatisation is what will follow, the agenda of undermining the Scottish Parliament will follow, because that's what he believes in.' Elsewhere in Hamilton on Saturday, Reform UK's candidate Ross Lambie gathered activists ahead of a canvassing session, including some bussed into the constituency from the north of England. Speaking to journalists, Mr Lambie was asked why the parties believed to be the frontrunners at the beginning of the campaign were spending so much time on Reform. 'They're doing their canvassing and they're getting the same results as we are, that's why,' he said. He added: 'We are super proud that we're not being pigeon-holed with any particular voter and we're not being boxed into certain aspects of the community. 'We're getting votes from across the area. 'If you were to chat to these volunteers, you'll find some of them were SNP voters in the past, many of them were Labour voters, Conservative voters. 'So that's the thing we're most proud of, that we're breaking down those old barriers in Scottish politics.' Mr Sarwar said Labour is still in the race for the seat in Thursday's vote. 'It's between ourselves and the SNP, every single vote is going to count,' he told PA on Saturday. 'That's why, if you want to beat the SNP, if you want a local champion, if you want to start that pathway to a new direction, the best way of doing that is to vote for one of your own – vote for Davy Russell.' The Labour leader also accused the First Minister of 'talking up Reform for a very, very long time', an assertion Mr Swinney rejects, while saying he would 'call out Nigel Farage's poison'.
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Labour accused of 'quietly urging shamed MP Andrew Gwynne to stay on' over fears of losing another by-election to Reform
Labour is privately urging a disgraced MP not to quit for fear of losing another by-election to Nigel Farage 's Reform UK, it was claimed last night. Sources said former health minister Andrew Gwynne, suspended by Labour after The Mail on Sunday exposed his racist and sexist comments earlier this year, was facing appeals from party officials to stay on. They said Labour was 'scared stiff' that if Mr Gwynne stood down, it would hand Mr Farage another by-election triumph akin to Reform's shock victory in Runcorn and Helsby last month. But local Labour officials are also said to be worried that snatching Mr Gwynne's Greater Manchester seat would give Reform a platform to oust nearby Labour big-hitters Deputy PM Angela Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds at the next general election. The claims come after Sir Keir made clear he now considered Reform to be Labour's main enemy, saying the Tory party was 'sliding into the abyss'. In leaked messages from a local WhatsApp group called Trigger Me Timbers, the MP also joked about how he hoped a pensioner who didn't vote for his party would die before the next election. The MP, who apologised for his 'badly misjudged comments', is now under investigation by the Commons' standards watchdog over potentially 'causing significant damage to the reputation of the House'. When this newspaper revealed the messages in February, Mr Gwynne was sacked as a health minister and 'administratively suspended' by the Labour party immediately. However, last night, insiders claimed Labour officials at national and local level were privately appealing to Mr Gwynne, who sits as an Independent MP, not to resign and trigger a by-election in his Gorton and Denton seat. The sources said party bosses were desperate to avoid a repeat of their shock defeat in the Runcorn and Helsby contest where Mr Farage's party overturned a 14,696 Labour majority last month. With a 13,413 majority, Mr Gwynne's seat looks to be even more vulnerable. One insider predicted: 'With Reform riding high in the polls, there'd be only one winner if Gwynne resigned from the Commons and that'd be the candidate Nigel Farage picked to stand. There's no way Labour would hold it – they're scared still of Reform.' The 72-year-old from Stockport who Mr Gwynne insulted said she was angry he had not stood down yet, adding: 'If he wants to resign, Labour should allow it. I know Reform has won a seat, and they don't want to lose another.' However, one Labour MP dismissed the idea that the party wanted Mr Gywnne to stay on, stressing the strong action it had taken when his offensive messages were revealed. Mr Gwynne declined to comment.
Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Out with Reform as it dares to dream of Scottish by-election shock
'When the campaign started, we thought we'd beat the Tories into third and put a bit of pressure on them,' says Ross Lambie, the architect who now dares imagine he might become Reform UK's first member of the Scottish parliament when voters in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency cast their ballots in the most keenly watched Holyrood by-election in years. 'But after we started canvassing, we realised how super-angry the Labour voters were. They feel betrayed. The depth of anger took us by surprise, and they were also really open to Reform. Particularly now we're putting flesh on the bones of our policies, like scrapping the two-child cap and on the winter fuel allowance.' On the streets of Larkhall, a staunchly Unionist working-class town where Glasgow Rangers FC is the established church, former Labour voters are easily found. Sir Keir Starmer is 'sending the country down the Swanee', says one man who claims to have already voted by post for Reform. 'I don't think any of them are fit to run the country,' says another woman, citing — like many voters here — Labour's benefit cuts and the abolition of winter fuel payments as evidence of the party's willingness to betray those it ostensibly exists to support. The by-election, necessitated by the death of the popular sitting MSP Christina McKelvie, should notionally have been a straightforward contest between Labour and the SNP. McKelvie won the seat with 46 per cent of the vote and a majority of 4,582 in 2021. This is the kind of constituency upon which Labour's hopes of wresting power back from the SNP for the first time since 2007 depend. If Labour cannot win Hamilton, it cannot win Scotland. As such, the by-election is a vital test for the party's Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar. The campaign's 'air war' has been dominated by Reform, most notably via the attention and controversy generated by an advertisement placed on Facebook and Instagram in which the party claimed that while it would always 'stand up' for the people of Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse, Sarwar would 'prioritise' Scotland's small Scots-Pakistani community. This was, at best, a misrepresentation of remarks Sarwar made at a dinner celebrating the greater presence of south Asian and ethnic minority politicians in Scottish public life. The rumpus generated by what Labour and the SNP agree was an 'openly racist' pitch for nativist votes in a constituency that is almost entirely populated by white people has continued. When Farage declined to apologise for, let alone disavow, the ad, Sarwar labelled him a 'pathetic little man'. Rather than pull the video, as opponents demanded, Farage played it at a press conference being broadcast live on TV. He went on to claim Sarwar had 'introduced sectarianism into Scottish politics' — a suggestion that suggested Reform's leader is not intimately acquainted with the history of Lanarkshire politics — and then released another attack ad, with implied questioning of whether the Scottish Labour leader, born in Glasgow to immigrants from Pakistan, shared British 'values'. Following the Scottish cabinet meeting on Tuesday, senior ministers and special advisers held a special session to discuss how the SNP should approach the final ten days of campaigning. A source close to John Swinney, the first minister, acknowledged the 'risk' in 'talking up' the threat posed by Reform. Some ministers believe focusing on Reform lends Farage's party an unearned legitimacy. SNP insiders believe three outcomes remain possible: a tolerably comfortable SNP victory, an uncomfortably close SNP win, and, less likely but still plausible, a stunning Reform victory. 'Three-way fights in a by-election with a new kid on the block have never been a thing in Scotland so it is difficult to call,' said one veteran SNP campaigner, 'especially when the electorate has deserted its old allegiances.' Even SNP sources allow, however, that voters unhappy with Labour's performance at a UK level are not necessarily enthused by the SNP's record in government in Scotland either. However improbable, a Reform victory would arguably be the biggest shock in a Scottish by-election since Winnie Ewing won Hamilton for the SNP in 1967. That result marked the birth of the modern SNP and is the moment from which its long rise to prominence and power may be dated. Coincidentally, this week's Holyrood by-election covers some of the same territory as Ewing's Westminster triumph. Reform's rise is remarkable. In 2021 the party's candidate won only 58 votes in the constituency; next week everyone agrees the party will win thousands. Opinion polls, meanwhile, suggest that on current trends the party could win about 18 seats in next year's Holyrood election. Any outcome on anything remotely like that scale would be understood as a thundering rebuke to a Scottish political consensus that has hitherto seen Reform as a party of cranks and losers and, still more significantly, as a purely English political phenomenon. Wider — and perhaps grubbier — political considerations are also at play in Hamilton this week. Just as Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's closest aide, sees the upside in framing the next general election as a battle between Labour and Reform as a means by which Labour can destroy the Conservative party, so the SNP appreciates how useful Reform's rise is to their own ambitions. Reform, which has pledged to bring fiscal restraint to local government, has now unveiled plans to reduce the generosity of council staff pension schemes south of the border. Richard Tice, the party's deputy leader, told The Telegraph that councils controlled by Reform would axe final salary schemes and stop offering the perks to new recruits. Staff on existing contracts would also be awarded lower annual pay rises to offset the costs of pension schemes. A new poll for The Sunday Times reveals that support for Scottish independence has risen to 54 per cent, largely as a result of voters' disillusionment with Labour in government and the rise of Reform who, for all their current and recent success in Scotland, are still seen as unwelcome interlopers by many Scottish voters. Independence may be a largely hypothetical issue at present but SNP strategists believe the threat of 'prime minister Farage' can be used to concentrate Scottish minds. Even so, the same poll finds that voters are unenthused by the SNP as it seeks a third decade in power in Edinburgh. Only 33 per cent of Scots are inclined to support the Nationalists, a far cry from the 48 per cent who backed the party at the Holyrood election in 2021. Moreover, today's poll reveals that although Farage, who is due in the country on Monday, has an approval rating in Scotland of -25 he is significantly less unpopular than the prime minister whose rating is -39. • Hamilton by-election result will set the mood for Holyrood 2026 Charlie the labrador joins the Hamilton campaign JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse is precisely the kind of seat Labour would need to win if the party is to have any chance of repeating its stunning successes at last year's general election. Coincidentally, much of the Holyrood constituency is represented at Westminster by McSweeney's wife, Imogen Walker. Conversely, if Reform takes more votes from Unionist parties than from the SNP — and polling strongly suggests this will be the case — then the further fragmentation of the anti-SNP vote can only benefit the nationalists. Senior Labour sources outwardly at least insist they are still 'neck and neck' with the SNP and 'there is not a chance we will finish third'. Some even see some advantage in the race-based controversies that have come to dominate the campaign. 'The absence of this sort of explicit racism in mainstream Scottish politics was, obviously, previously a good thing,' a senior Labour strategist claims. 'But if Reform are going to do it, it means Anas gets to respond to it strongly and to take Farage on. 'A lot of people who were maybe tempted by Reform as a protest vote are now thinking, 'That's racist and I don't want to have anything to do with that'.'
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Campaign 'hate' storm as Swinney says he believes Nigel Farage is a 'racist'
The final weekend of by-election campaigning in Hamilton has descended into a bitter war of words as John Swinney branded Nigel Farage a racist. In a speech to SNP activists today ahead of the critical vote on Thursday, the First Minister accused the Reform UK leader of bringing 'racism and hatred right into the heart' of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse community, adding: 'It is repugnant and we are going to stand up to it every way we can.' Asked by reporters after the rally if he believed Mr Farage was 'a racist', Mr Swinney emphatically responded: 'Yes'. Pushed on whether he had any concern that branding Mr Farage a racist could prompt a defamation action, the First Minister responded: 'No.' He added: 'He's the leader of his party, he is responsible, I'm responsible for everything the SNP does.' However, a spokesman for Reform hit out that Mr Swinney was 'losing the argument' by going 'for the man and not the ball'. He added that the SNP were in a 'tailspin' ahead of Nigel Farage 's visit to Scotland next week. The row broke out on the tense final weekend of campaigning ahead of the by-election vote on Thursday, prompted by the death of Nationalist MSP Christina McKelvie. Although no official polling has been carried out on the ground for the vote, national surveys ahead of the Holyrood elections for 2026 show that Reform is making inroads with the Scottish electorate. A poll last month found that Reform could become the main opposition party next year, with 21 per cent of the popular vote. Although Nicola Sturgeon had previously asserted on the campaign trail that the race would be between the SNP and Labour, Mr Swinney notably shifted that message in the final days of campaigning. In a letter to voters via a daily newspaper, he appeared to place Reform as the Nationalists' main rival and said: 'If you want to beat Reform, the only way to stop them is to vote SNP.' Speaking today, Mr Swinney said Scottish Labour were 'out' of the race. He told supporters: 'We are the party of hope in Scotland. And what the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse face on Thursday is a very simple choice. 'The Labour Party campaign is collapsing. They are out of is a real threat. Do not underestimate the scale of the threat that Farage poses in this election.' Mr Farage, who will be in Scotland on Monday has been accused of 'introducing poison into our politics' after his party became embroiled in a race row with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at the beginning of last week. An election advert by Reform used an old clip of Mr Sarwar at a Pakistani Independence Day dinner in 2022 and suggested he had said that he would prioritise Pakistani people. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Reform of 'manipulation' of the clip of Mr Sarwar, and said Mr Farage was trying to create a 'toxic divide '. Labour, whose candidate is former roads apprentice Davy Russell, has been warning voters that Reform cannot defeat the SNP and will instead help them win. In another open letter to voters in the Daily Record today, Mr Sarwar claimed that the race is a 'straight contest' between his party and Reform, accusing Mr Farage of being a 'clear and present danger to our country'. He also accused Mr Swinney of using Reform as a 'mask for his failure' and criticised the campaign run by Mr Farage's party. He wrote: 'Throughout this by-election campaign, Reform have tried every dirty trick in the book to drive a wedge to divide this community – but I know you will see right through it.' He added: 'Nigel Farage is a poisonous, pathetic and toxic little man that doesn't understand this community or our country. 'He and his cronies in Reform have spent thousands of pounds spreading bile, misinformation and racial slurs. 'Scotland is my home. I was born here.'
