Anas Sarwar leaves door open to working with Nigel Farage's Reform on individual issues

The Scottish Labour leader ruled out formal coalitions or agreements if he becomes first minister, but said he would not turn his back on a good idea from any opposition MSP, regardless of party.

He refused to be drawn on whether he would be happy to use Reform votes in the Scottish Parliament to get into power.

Polling suggests Mr Farage’s party could win a raft of MSPs at the Holyrood election next year, which could put them in the position of kingmakers.

First Minister John Swinney recently told The Scotsman: “Parties will have to think about their reaction to Reform, because there’ll be things that Reform will argue for that there’s no way I would put them in a Scottish Government Budget. Absolutely no way.

“So I want to be as inclusive as I can, but not that inclusive. Things have got to be confronted and I think that’s the choice that faces Parliament.”

Speaking to journalists at the launch of a new consultation paper on technology, Mr Sarwar said: “We will not do formal coalitions. We will not work with a political party like Reform.

“But let me just be really clear - and this goes to whether it is an SNP politician, a Conservative politician, a Liberal Democrat politician, a Green politician, or anybody that’s elected in the Parliament - if somebody has a good idea that can get the support of the majority of parliament, then I will not turn my back on a good idea, regardless of where it comes from.

“Because that’s the essence and the nature of devolution, and the essence and nature of how the Scottish Parliament was supposed to be designed. But we are going flat out to win the election, to form a Scottish Labour government, and for me to be first minister.”

Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, previously said the party would back Mr Sarwar to become first minister at the expense of the SNP.

Political parties do not usually win overall majorities at Holyrood elections, meaning Labour would still need support from opposition MSPs to form a government.

Asked if he would use Reform votes to get into power, Mr Sarwar said he was “not going to get into the mathematics of what happens after the election”.

Pushed on what he meant by not working with Reform, the Scottish Labour leader said: “They have zero MSPs. We are not looking to do coalitions or agreements, but I’ve already said, if there is an individual idea from any politician of any political party in our Parliament that’s a good one, that commands majority support of the Parliament, why would we turn our back on that?

“I’m not going to turn my back on any good idea. That could be from an SNP politician, it could be from a Conservative politician, a Lib Dem or anybody else. That’s a grown-up approach that I think, frankly, has been lacking from our Scottish Parliament for over a decade.”

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Anas Sarwar’s comments today reflect the reality the Holyrood bubble is facing ahead of 2026. Reform UK will have MSPs elected next year and the public will have sent them there with a clear mandate – to implement fundamental change.”

SNP MSP Stuart McMillan said: “People across Scotland will rightly be alarmed that Anas Sarwar is so desperate for power that he’s willing to leave the door open to Nigel Farage. This is another own-goal by an increasingly desperate Anas Sarwar.”