'Seismic' Rutherglen by-election could be 'launchpad' for Scottish Labour, says Anas Sarwar
dailyrecord.co.ukAnas Sarwar has said that the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election has could be a "launch pad" for Scottish Labour.The Scottish Labour leader said the by-election has "the potential to be seismic" when speaking to reporters at the Cambuslang Miners Monument.He was joined by Labour candidate Michael Shanks for the last day of campaigning.The by-election takes place on Thursday and the result should be announced in the early hours of Friday morning.Shanks is the current favourite, as he goes up against the SNP's Katy Loudon.The by-election comes after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was ousted for breaking Covid rules.It also follows a difficult time for the SNP, with ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon resigning and being arrested as part of an investigation into the party's finances.The party has also gone down in the polls, with the gap between the SNP and Labour narrowing since Sturgeon left office.When asked if this by-election could mark the beginning of an SNP decline, Sarwar said: "We've had seismic by-elections before.
And it's fair to say that the Labour Party, in recent times, has been on the wrong side of those seismic by elections."You can talk about the by-election Winnie Ewing fought here many years back.
You can think about the Glasgow East by election that we lost to the SNP. Both were regarded as seismic by-elections."I believe this has the potential to be a seismic by-election, and then as a launch pad as we head towards that next general election."We approach that with excitement.
We approach that with confidence, but we do it with a hunger and desire to recognise that we have come a long way in terms of persuading people that the Scottish Labour Party is back."And we've still got a long way to go to
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