Exclusive:Anas Sarwar to focus on public sector reform to revive Labour's Bute House bid
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has admitted his party has “work to do” to get his Bute House ambitions back on track - as he draws up plans to put public service reform at the centre of his pitch to voters in 2026.
Mr Sarwar had his sights set on becoming the next first minister of Scotland with polling before the general election in July indicating Scottish Labour was on course to oust the SNP in a Holyrood election.
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But since Labour trounced the SNP in the general election, the SNP have recovered ground - with several polls now showing they would remain the biggest party if a Holyrood election took place.
Speaking to Scotland on Sunday, Mr Sarwar refused to point the finger at unpopular policies by his Labour colleagues at Westminster for causing the collapse in support for his party.
After the dismal general election, John Swinney has steadied the SNP ship - with a largely well-received draft Budget which heaped pressure on Labour boosting his party’s favourability with the Scottish public.
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Hide AdIn particular, Scottish Labour appeared to be caught cold by Shona Robison’s vow to mitigate the two-child benefit cap after a failure by the UK government to act.
Asked by Scotland on Sunday what he plans to do to “stem the bleeding”, Mr Sarwar insisted that voters will back him in an election against a government that has been in office for the best part of two decades.
He said: “I honestly believe that once we get the frame of the choice in 2026 and it’s clear the choice is between more of the same managed decline with the SNP or a new direction with Scottish Labour, I’m confident that’s an election that we can compete in but also win.
“When I took on this job three and a bit years ago, we were 32 points behind the SNP. When we were 18 months out from a general election we were well behind the SNP. We went on to win that election.
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“I’m confident over the next 18 months with hard work, humility and energy, we can persuade people and we can win the election in 2026. But we’ve got work to do and I’m determined to do it.”
A senior Scottish Labour source said that Mr Sarwar’s pitch for change to voters ahead of the 2026 election will be drawn up next year and will “centre around public service reform”, with a key message that “the SNP has wrecked everything”.
Labour has already begun tweaking its messaging about the SNP’s delivery - highlighting a focus as they see it on inputs but failures in outcomes.
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Mr Sarwar said: “What I’m standing for in 2026 is to be leader of our country here in Scotland - to be first minister of Scotland and to change Scotland.
“That’s the pitch that we will be standing on - that’s the arguments I’ll be making over the next 18 months. We will be setting out in more detail what change would look like if we won the election in 2026 and I relish that opportunity.”
Labour’s popularity has sunk across the UK and north of the Border as Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out unpopular policies, billed as “difficult decisions”.


Instead of the usual honeymoon period an incoming government usually enjoys by creating a sense of optimism, Labour has painted a stark picture from the outset of the perilous economic climate.
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Hide AdMixed with unpopular decisions to cut winter fuel allowances for pensioners, a refusal to lift the two-child benefit cap and a widely-panned policy to hike employer National Insurance contributions, the Westminster government has seen its polling drop to level or even below the SNP’s favourability.
A senior Labour source played down the party’s poor polling performance - insisting they were “not panicking” about their current favourability.
They added that many unionists may have lent them votes at the general election to remove the Conservatives from government and have now gone back to their native party of choice with the UK government tabling unpopular policies. But the insider claimed that given an opportunity to remove the SNP from office, they would back Labour.
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Hide AdThe source said: “Unionists who backed us might be upset about the two-child cap or winter fuel and have gone back to the Tories or the Lib Dems.
“But when push comes to shove and there’s a real opportunity to get rid of the SNP in 2026, we’re confident they will vote for us.”
But an SNP source warned the strategy was “taking the public for granted” and was “laughably complacent”.
Asked about the incoming Labour government at Westminster, Mr Sarwar said: “Have there been challenges - what I would call teething problems as a former dentist? Of course there have been.
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Hide Ad“But I think people out there can recognise that an incoming Labour government had to clear up a 14-year mess, can’t do everything straight away, will have to make some difficult decisions - that’s the reality of being an incoming UK Labour government.
“What I’m focused on is how we speak for Scotland, champion Scotland and deliver for Scotland.”
He added: “This approach of blaming Westminster for all our problems but also waiting somehow for Westminster to fix all our problems, I’m not willing to do that. I’m not willing to wait for Westminster to fix all our problems.
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Hide Ad“We have the powers here, we have the resources here, we have the talent here, we have the power here. What we don’t have is the government here that taps into that to deliver for the people of Scotland.
“That’s the argument I can’t wait to have come the election in 2026.”
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