Standing among a crowd of new Scottish Labour MPs in Glasgow on Friday morning, Anas Sarwar told reporters that the era of Conservative government was over. “People across our country will be waking up to the news that after 14 years of Conservative government, after 14 years of chaos and division, that has now come to an end,” he said.
With all but one of Scotland’s 57 seats declared, Labour held 37. The SNP had nine, and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats five each. In the 2019 UK election Labour returned one MP in Scotland and the SNP returned 48. A recount in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire was not due to restart until 10.30am on Saturday, so the final tally had to wait.
Labour swept through the central belt and pushed the SNP out of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Its result in Scotland mirrored the success of the UK-wide party.
Sarwar looks to Holyrood
Sarwar did not stop at Westminster. He said the 14 years of Tory chaos had been matched by “17 years of SNP failure and incompetence too”, and that Labour would “redouble” its efforts to form a Scottish government in 2026.
He described what the new MPs were there to do. They were not heading to Westminster “to sit on the opposition benches to shout, to protest and ultimately come back with nothing”, he said, but to sit on the government benches and help deliver for Scotland.
Sarwar said he had spoken to Sir Keir Starmer straight after the exit poll, and that Starmer was “particularly delighted about the results here in Scotland”. According to Sarwar, the incoming prime minister promised to serve every part of the country, Scotland included.
The SNP leader came in for criticism from Sarwar. John Swinney, he said, “has got a lot of reflecting to do”, and spent the six-week campaign attacking Labour. “You can see the verdict of the Scottish people,” Sarwar said.
Swinney: a very poor result
Swinney, the First Minister, did not dispute the scale of the loss. “It’s a very poor result for the SNP tonight,” he told the BBC, promising “a lot of soul searching”. He said the party had to be “better at governing on behalf of the people of Scotland”.
Speaking in Edinburgh, he said the SNP had “failed to convince people of the urgency of independence” during the campaign. Even so, he said the commitment to independence “remains absolute”, and that the party needed to listen to and learn from the Scottish public about how to argue its case.
Among the SNP’s casualties was Alison Thewliss, who had held Glasgow North since May 2015. She lost it to Labour’s Martin Rhodes. Richard Thomson lost Gordon and Buchan to the Conservatives’ Harriet Cross.
Ross falls short, Greens and Lib Dems react
Douglas Ross, the outgoing Scottish Tory leader, failed to win a seat at Westminster. He had stood in Aberdeenshire North and Moray East in place of David Duguid, who was barred from standing by party bosses because of ill health. His decision reversed an earlier announcement that he would not seek re-election to Westminster, and drew criticism from opponents and some within his own party.
Ross told the BBC he believed the Reform UK vote had handed the SNP the seat. Reform’s Jo Hart came third with 5,562 votes, while Ross finished less than 1,000 behind his SNP rival.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said his party had “made a huge leap forward and are back as a major force in British politics”. Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said the party had established itself as “the third political force in Glasgow” and called the results a springboard for the 2026 Scottish election and the local elections in 2027.
Sources
- Sarwar sets sights on Holyrood 2026 election after Labour landslide engulfs SNP
- Tears and loathing in South Lanarkshire: SNP's independence dream over
- Scottish Labour sets sights on Holyrood 2026
