Scottish National Party<\/a> (SNP) in a reduced first place, and Labour fighting the radical right Reform UK party for second. <\/p>\nWhile historically Scotland\u2019s dominant party, Labour lost power to the SNP in 2007 and was then reduced to third place in 2016. But it made a striking comeback in 2024 when Sarwar\u2019s party won the UK general election in Scotland, capitalising on voters\u2019 perception of declining public services under the SNP.<\/p>\n
However, following the installation of a Labour government at the UK level, the party\u2019s ratings rapidly declined. Sarwar is concerned that the fallout from the Mandleson scandal will lead to even further losses of support in the polls.<\/p>\n
![\"Anas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/file-20260209-56-hf2jgd.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sarwar and Starmer: once good pals.
\n Alamy\/SST<\/p>\n
While Starmer\u2019s cabinet has rushed to defend him, Sarwar is, so far, the most high-profile Labour figure to call for Starmer\u2019s resignation. What is especially interesting is that Sarwar has specifically framed his call in Scottish terms, speaking of his loyalty to Scotland and alleging that Starmer\u2019s actions have been detrimental to his party\u2019s prospects in May. He stated that Starmer must go if Scotland is going to avoid another decade of SNP rule. <\/p>\n
Was he right to do it?<\/p>\n
Sarwar is right that UK Labour\u2019s unpopularity since it took office has damaged the standing of its devolved wings. He also presumably feels very angry his chances of taking power have been ended by this. But the choice to blame Scottish Labour\u2019s failings on Starmer obscures Sarwar\u2019s own responsibility for Labour\u2019s poor standing. <\/p>\n
While Starmer is undoubtedly highly unpopular in Scotland, Sarwar has spent the time since the general election steadfastly failing to differentiate himself from the prime minister \u2013 despite suggestions during in the 2024 campaign Scottish Labour MPs would serve as an autonomous group at Westminster and pursue an independent line.<\/p>\n
This failure is important as it means Sarwar\u2019s Scottish party has been severely discredited by UK Labour\u2019s failings and can no longer serve as the receptacle of anti-SNP protest voting as it did in the general election. Continuing criticism of the SNP\u2019s record now rings much hollower when voters can look at a very similar party in Westminster they don\u2019t perceive as doing any better or even as worse.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s behind this row?<\/p>\n
Ultimately, this is linked to broader underlying issues in Scottish Labour around the party\u2019s continuing inability to come to terms with its loss of status as the country\u2019s dominant political force and adapt to the politics of the devolution era. The party has consistently failed to take into account how Holyrood-centric Scottish politics has become or the need for policy and messaging differentiation between Scotland and the UK. This is something that Welsh Labour realised in the 2000s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sarwar calls for the PM to resign.<\/p>\n
The return of a new majority of Labour MPs in Scotland should have been viewed as the next step towards the campaign to win the 2026 elections in Scotland. Instead it seems to have renewed the party\u2019s Westminster-centrism. <\/p>\n
Scottish MPs in Westminster have toed the party line, including on policies which are highly unpopular north of the border. This has been exacerbated by frequent campaign misfires, such as the printing and distribution of leaflets with fake quotes<\/a> endorsing Sarwar and a bizarre series of adverts centred on Sarwar\u2019s life. <\/p>\nSuch a personality-centred campaign makes little sense when the party is no longer running neck and neck with the SNP but struggling for second place. Arguably, setting out a strong vision of what Scottish Labour wants Scotland to look like \u2013 other than merely a place without the SNP in charge \u2013 would leave the party in a much stronger place. <\/p>\n
Sarwar\u2019s move will likely not harm his party\u2019s prospects in May, but the move to a more assertive Scottish leadership is very late in the game and much more will be needed for a true turnaround in Scottish Labour\u2019s fortunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scottish politics has a dual nature. It is significantly distinct from politics in the rest of the United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-416833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}