Anas Sarwar blasts 'classism attacks' on Labour Hamilton by-election candidate as John Swinney has say
John Swinney has admitted the SNP has “the basis of being able to win” the by-election.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has hit out at “elitism and classism” directed at his candidate for Thursday’s crunch Holyrood by-election - as the First Minister delivered a veiled dig at the nominee’s suitability to be an MSP.
Davy Russell, billed as a “local champion” by Scottish Labour, is vying to become the next MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse - and will go up against nine other candidates, including the SNP’s Katy Loudon and Reform UK’s Ross Lambie.
But Mr Russell has come under fire from opponents for ducking a STV live debate earlier this week and has not taken part in some hustings events. Mr Russell underwent a painful exchange under scrutiny from STV’s Colin Mackay in which he refused to answer whether he backed the Labour UK government’s winter fuel cuts when asked 11 times.
Speaking on the final full day of campaigning before polls open, Mr Sarwar insisted Mr Russell was “a fantastic candidate” and would “be a fantastic MSP”.
He said: “I think he is focused on the issues that matter to the people here. One thing that makes him above others is that he genuinely isn’t a politician. He just cares about his community and wants to make a difference.”
Asked by The Scotsman if he believed some of the criticism of Mr Russell had been harsh, Mr Sarwar said: “I think there's certainly been an element of elitism and classism in terms of pathetic comments on how he speaks.
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“To be honest with you, it only helps reinforce the fact that he’s from here and for here. He talks like and sounds like people who live here because he’s from here.
“I’ll let the SNP and Reform make those attacks. We’ll focus on the issues that matter and I hope that pays dividends.”
Pressed over what made Mr Russell a good candidate other than his local connection, the Scottish Labour leader stressed “he cares about this community, he understands this community”. He said Mr Russell had been “campaigning on the neonatal unit” in Wishaw keeping its specialist services.
First Minister John Swinney refused to be drawn on Mr Russell, but in a thinly-veiled attack warned that “any candidate worthy of being elected” must be able to stand up and speak on behalf of constituents.
Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Swinney said: “I’m not going to talk about other parties’ candidates.
“My candidate, I’m confident, could go into Parliament, hold her own, speak up on behalf of constituents, square up to the First Minister and challenge him on half of the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. I’m confident my candidate would be able to do that.
“A candidate has got to be able, on a given day, when this constituency might be facing difficulty, to come into Parliament and challenge the First Minister of Scotland right then. Any candidate worthy of being elected must be able to do that.”
Mr Swinney told journalists the SNP had “the basis of being able to win the constituency” in the by-election.
He said his party’s message was to “make sure we don’t run the risk of ending up with a [Nigel] Farage MSP” as he insisted that voters had a straight choice between the SNP and Reform UK.
“I’m seeing SNP support firm and leading, I’m seeing a lot of Reform support, which has been growing and not seeing as much Labour support as Reform”, Mr Swinney said.
“That’s what I’m seeing on the doorstep. That is the picture that is emerging.”
Asked about why a significant number of voters were poised to turn to Reform, Mr Swinney said “a lot of it is about standard of living”, which he warned “has not improved in recent years”.
He said: “A large proportion of that is because Brexit made us all poorer. I’ve got to make sure that people see an alternative way forward - and that’s what the SNP offers.”
A large part of the campaign has been overshadowed by misinformation and personal attacks by Mr Farage and Reform on the Scottish Labour leader.
Despite national polling indicating that Labour is set for a battle with Reform for second place, Mr Sarwar told journalists that “we’re campaigning to win this by-election”.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar says Nigel Farage has 'crashed Reform's by-election campaign' and attacks defector
He said: “There’s been lots of Reform noise, there’s been lots of Reform smear, there’s been a lack of ambition from the SNP and misinformation from the SNP.
“Only two parties are trying to win here - the SNP and Scottish Labour. The choice is a local champion in Davy Russell that’s focused on issues that matter to people here or more SNP incompetence, SNP failure and SNP waste.
“I hope people here will elect a local champion in Davy Russell.”
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