Anas Sarwar 'absolutely' staying as Scottish Labour leader - but won't say if he will lead at next election

Mr Sarwar’s party had its worst ever result at a Holyrood election last week as won just 17 seats - putting it joint second with Reform UK.

This was down five seats from the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Labour won just 19.2 per cent of the constituency vote and 16 per cent of the list vote - down 2.4 and 1.9 per cent respectively.

Mr Sarwar told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show: “The reason why I'm focusing on what the consequences of this mean for Scotland is we now have a new parliament.

“In that new parliament, I feel a sense of responsibility, not just to the Scottish Labour Party, but even more to Scotland, that this has to be a parliament that one holds the Government to account, holds them on the record, holds them to the promises they’ve made...”

When asked if he was staying in post to do that, Mr Sarwar said: “Absolutely.

“And holds them to do that... gives an effective opposition that can't just be about shouting, creating noise.

“Therefore I'm willing to work with other political parties that share those same views as I do, to make sure we hold the government to account, hold them to the promises, but also give an effective opposition.”

But when asked if he would still be in office in five years time, he said:

“I see my job as holding my party together and making sure that we play our part in parliament in the national interest to one hold this government...”

When pushed again if he would be leader at the next election, Mr Sarwar said: “I've got a job to do. I intend to do it, and I want to work closely with my colleagues to try and deliver for the group.”

When asked how long he would do it for, Mr Sarwar said: “The surprising thing right now is I am the longest serving leader of any party in the Parliament.

“You don't often hear that from a Scottish Labour politician. A Scottish Labour politician being the longest serving party leader is something that we've not said for a very long time.

Labour won just three constituencies - holding two and gaining one - despite Mr Sarwar claiming the party could win 38.

He had also said he could become first minister just a day before the election.

But Labour ended up well behind the SNP, which won 58 seats.

This was despite the SNP’s vote share being down 9.5 per cent on the constituency and 13.1 percent on the list.

Mr Sarwar blamed Labour’s failure to “cut through the national noise” as the reason for its loss in Scotland.

He said: “Ultimately, this election didn't come down to big ideas. It came down to big national wave and a general vibe that we couldn’t change. And that's unfortunate.”

Mr Sarwar added: “I, as leader, take full responsibility for the strategy of the campaign.

“ Of course, we worked in really good partnership with our co chairs, Jackie Baillie and Douglas Alexander, who I believe did a good job in this election campaign.

“The reality, though, is we believe we could cut through the national noise. We had a campaign designed to try and cut through the national noise, but we failed to do so, and ultimately, that's why we got the result.”

Labour suffered record losses across the UK last week. It lost control in Wales for the first time and lost nearly 1,500 councillors in England.