Speaking with a T-shirt featuring a montage of José Mourinho portraits pinned up across his office wall, he said Scottish Labour’s main strategy would be to resist the SNP’s attempts to turn next year’s election into a referendum on the UK government’s performance.
But Sarwar acknowledged the increase in Reform UK support, which Norstat put at 15% last week, compared with 18% for Scottish Labour and 12% for the Scottish Conservatives, indicated a very real dissatisfaction with mainstream politics.
Recent polls, which show a surge in support for Reform UK and the Scottish Greens, suggest the SNP would comfortably win the election in May 2026, its fifth in a row since 2007, cementing more than two decades in power.
His party’s support has fallen by half since the chancellor cut the winter fuel payment and raised national insurance costs last year, leaving it trailing behind the Scottish National party (SNP).
On the eve of Scottish Labour’s annual conference in Glasgow this weekend, Sarwar said: “I accept [that] shows we have a challenge facing us in the next 15 months.” His conference speech on Friday “has to be a big moment”, he added.
