Humza Yousaf has admitted for the first the SNP knew they were unlikely to win the by-election after voters kept bringing up the ongoing police investigation into SNP finances.
Writing for the Sunday Mail, the First Minister said trust had been lost as Rutherglen and Hamilton West went to Labour by more than 9000 votes. In his most honest assessment yet of the impact of the ongoing criminal probe he inherited as party leader, he laid bare the fact that it was the issue that came up “time and again” on the doorstep.
He said: “The Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election was a big disappointment for the SNP. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
“The circumstances could hardly have been worse for us, triggered by a recall petition because of the lockdown-breaking conduct of my party’s MP.
“That, and the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, came up time and again on the doorsteps. While we were probably never going to win, the scale of the result shows that we have hard lessons to learn. I am determined we do so, because that is part and parcel of effective leadership.
“To rebuild trust with voters who didn’t come out for us last Thursday – or who have moved away from the SNP – we have to understand how, why and where trust has been lost. That means we must listen. But it doesn’t mean we only heed the loudest voices.”
The by-election was triggered after Margaret Ferrier was ejected from the seat for breaking Covid rules during the pandemic. Labour’s Michael Shanks will now take her place in the House of Commons after defeating the SNP’s Katy Loudon.
The result was a massive boost for Labour as it prepares to fight a general election next year and suggests it could be on the cusp of a massive resurgence in former Scottish heartlands.
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Scottish leader Anas Sarwar said: “This result has turned Scottish politics on his head. It will be remembered as a by-election where things fundamentally changed. I think the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West spoken for Scotland.
“They are sick of two failing governments, they are sick of the chaos and incompetence and the party of change is Scottish Labour. This has not just been two months of work, it has been two years of hard graft, to change the Labour Party to reach out and to speak about the better future for our country.
“The promise I make to Scotland now is that the hard work, the energy and the humility that we have shown in the last two years doesn’t stop now we have won a by-election. If anything it ramps up.” Former SNP First Minister Alex Salmond has warned Yousaf needs to fundamentally change direction or risk sinking his party and the dream of independence.
He said: “Humza Yousaf’s description of the result as ‘disappointing’ simply doesn’t cut it. In reality the by-election is an electoral disaster which presents a fundamental risk to his leadership and tenure as First Minister.
“If he does not change course dramatically, and right now, then either he will have to go or he will drag the independence dream into the dust.
Political analyst James Mitchell, a professor of public policy at Edinburgh University warned that the result needs to be a “wake-up call” for the SNP.
He said: “The problems have been building up for some time. Their record in government is poor, they have the police investigation into their finances, there has been the controversy over membership numbers, and they have still not answered key questions on their independence policy.
“So this should be a wake-up call but I’m not convinced that it will be. Humza’s authority was weak from the moment he became leader because he won only a narrow victory despite having the support of the previous First Minister.
“It is going to be a very uncomfortable time for the SNP and talk of an independence strategy now looks out of touch with the reality that there is little chance of a referendum any time soon.” Meanwhile as the Labour Party conference kicks of in Liverpool today, leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the by-election victory shows people in Scotland see his party as representing “change”.
He said: “We are humble in victory but the results gives us a very strong foundation to win other constituencies in Scotland. That matters to me not just because of the numbers needed for a Labour majority at the next general election, but also because, if elected to serve, I want to be the Prime Minister for the whole of the UK, not just of the UK.
“It is a turning looking and vindicates our hard work and strategic approach. The Labour Party is now the party of change.”
The Labour leader also unveiled a £1.5billion plan to offer nurses and doctors overtime payments to clear treatment backlogs by creating an extra 2.2million appointments every year.
He said the policy will be funded by clamping down on tax breaks for the super-rich.
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