Scottish Labour victory rally after by-election win
Anas Sarwar holds a rally celebrating Scottish Labour and Davy Russell’s by-election victory in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
Hamilton by-election results: Labour pulls off stunning victory over SNP as Davy Russell set for Holyrood
Labour have secured a shock victory against the SNP in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. Scottish Labour has won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election - snatching a stunning victory from the SNP in a huge shock for Scottish politics.
Davy Russell has been elected to the Scottish Parliament as an MSP after securing 8, 559 votes, ahead of the SNP’s Katy Loudon who won 7,957 votes, with Reform’s Ross Lambie narrowly behind on 7,088.
Scottish Conservative candidate Richard Nelson came in fourth place with 1,621 votes. The turnout was 44.2 per cent - much higher than anticipated but far below the 60.9 per cent at the 2021 Holyrood election.
The result is a huge boost for reviving Anas Sarwar’s chances of becoming the next first minister of Scotland at next year’s Holyrood election, a victory despite national polling suggesting Labour were flailing behind the SNP.
‘Game on’ for 2026 Holyrood election Mr Sarwar told The Scotsman it was “game on” for next year’s election.
He added that the by-election victory had “laid the first stone in that pathway to a Scottish Labour government next year”.
READ MORE: Huge ramifications on the line for SNP, Labour and Reform after Hamilton by-election dirty campaign
The election, held after the sad and untimely death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie, was took place amid a bitter campaign which involved Mr Farage attacking the Scottish Labour leader with online adverts inaccurately claiming he would “prioritise” the Pakistani community.
First Minister John Swinney had stressed the seat, which the SNP won by more than 4,500 votes at the 2021 Holyrood election, was a straight fight between his party and Reform - having initially claimed it was a “three-way contest” including Labour.
Mr Sarwar had insisted that Reform could not win the seat as he claimed his Scottish Labour was the only party that could deny the SNP of retaining the seat.
Meanwhile, Reform had played down expectations ahead of polling day with Mr Farage, during a chaotic visit to Scotland, warning victory was “improbable”.
READ MORE: Hamilton by-election: Polls close in crucial Scottish Parliament battle that will shape party fates
As polls closed at 10pm, Scottish Labour deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, claimed that the “race is too close to call”, adding that “there is real hope for change”.
At the verification stage, before votes were counted, a senior Labour source said that their party and the SNP had been successful in their campaign to “get out the vote” but insisted the result was too close to call.
Speaking after his victory, Mr Russell said that the public “feel we’ve been let down by the SNP”.
00:00Thank you all so much and first and foremost can I say thank you to all the
00:11volunteers who took part in this campaign and to the great people of Hamilton,
00:15Larcol and Stonehouse who elected their neighbour, their friend, their local
00:20champion Davey Russell. What the people of Hamilton, Larcol and Stonehouse have done
00:32last night is they have led the way, led the way to the election of a Scottish
00:38Labour government next year and the removal of the SNP from office and I think
00:47as we celebrate this victory today I think it's important to reflect not just
00:53on the result but on the very many conversations we had on the doorstep and
00:58the important message that the people of Hamilton, Larcol and Stonehouse have given us.
01:02One, they are sick of this SNP government who have been power for 18 years and have
01:08utterly failed them and they want them removed from office. Secondly, they have
01:13rejected the poison of Nigel Farage and reform and third, they have also made it
01:19clear that they want a UK Labour government to go even further and faster
01:23in demonstrating a positive difference in their lives and we hear that loud and
01:28clear. But can I also say that this is yes lessons for us as a political party but I
01:34think there are huge lessons for the political pollsters, the pundits, the
01:39commentators and the bookies because they all got it wrong and they didn't
01:43understand what was actually happening on the ground here and what's happening on
01:47the ground across the country. No longer can they be duped by John Swinney and the
01:53SNP and take for red whatever they are told. John Swinney ran a shameful campaign in this election campaign.
02:00And let me tell you why. Yes it was right to call out the lies and the dirt of Nigel Farage and reform but actually what John Swinney did was also unacceptable
02:12because he tried the campaign of misinformation and just think after 18 years of a party being in government, they didn't want a campaign on a positive record because they don't have one.
02:23They didn't want a campaign based on the issues facing the people here in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Instead the big message was vote SNP to stop Farage.
02:33And all that did was demonstrate that this is a party that is devoid of ideas, devoid of energy and is now running down the clock to be removed from office and all it did was try to drive people into the arms of reform and Nigel Farage.
02:47That is not going to work next year. So next year we will run a campaign where it will be a straight choice. And I think this by-election has proved to all that this is now a straight choice.
02:58Next year will be a two horse race. And that Scottish Parliament election is going to result in one of two outcomes. It's either going to mean a third decade of the SNP with John Swinney as first minister or a new direction for Scotland with a Scottish Labour government and me as first minister.
03:15That is the stark choice facing the country. And the difference between us and the SNP is that we are going to spend the next year making the case for fixing our NHS, for improving our education system, for making sure that people feel safe and secure in their communities and ending the billions of pounds of wasted money and delivering a Scottish Government that has the right priorities for the people of Scotland.
03:37Only Scottish Labour can deliver a new direction for Scotland and only Scottish Labour can ultimately deliver the change this country needs. And we are determined to go and win it together. Thank you.
03:51I'm David Bowle, the Scotsman's Deputy Political Editor, and I'm here in Hamilton, where Anna Sawa, just hours after Davy Russell, his Scottish Labour candidate, defied the odds and won the by-election, gave a victory speech where he went on the attack.
04:09He attacked John Swinney for a dirty campaign, told us that his time was running out, really, as the SNP government said people are sick of them and that's why they voted for Labour.
04:18He praised his team, said he's got the edge now in terms of digital, in terms of media operation, in terms of people on the ground.
04:25And that's what Scottish Labour are putting this down to. They managed to get people out knocking doors with a candidate that people could relate to.
04:32And that's why, basically, he thinks they've edged ahead of the SNP.
04:36Looking ahead now, Anna Sawa thinks this is a stepping stone. It is the first part of launching a campaign towards becoming the next First Minister of Scotland.
04:45Still a long way to go. He's still really acknowledging that the UK government's decisions haven't really helped and people are a bit upset.
04:52But this will give him some confidence that people on the doorsteps are also angry at Scotland's other government.
04:57And he'll really be beaming with confidence and thinking that he can win a lot of seats from the SNP, particularly across the central belt, as we saw last night.
05:06And really, this is a very huge boost to Scottish Labour's campaign.
05:10Just a few weeks ago, even last night, people were writing off Anna Sawa, thinking that his hopes of becoming the next First Minister were toast.
05:19Now, this result, although not overwhelming in terms of result and reform still causing problems for the Scottish Labour leader,
05:26sends a big message that the SNP can be beaten and they can be beaten by Labour.
05:31And for Anna Sawa, that is a huge opportunity to bring his message to the public and kickstart his campaign for Holyrood next year.
