'SNP has not recovered' - John Swinney admits after by-election humbling
Both the SNP and Scottish Labour saw their vote share fall in the by-election, while Reform UK surged in the polls.
John Swinney has admitted the SNP has “not recovered” after losing the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.
The First Minister also warned Scottish Labour to be cautious after their by-election victory as “the Labour vote has collapsed” in the constituency due to the rapid rise of Reform UK.
And he vowed to not “do any sort of deal or cooperation” with Nigel Farage should his party perform well at the 2026 Holyrood election.
On Thursday Scottish Labour’s Davy Russell won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election with a majority of just 602.
However, both Scottish Labour and the SNP saw their vote share fall - Labour’s vote share fell from 33.6 per cent in 2021 to 31.5 per cent. The SNP’s vote share fell from 46.2 per cent to just 29.4 per cent.
On the other hand, Reform UK managed to secure 26.2 per cent of the vote, well above where the party is polling nationally.
The turnout for the by-election on Thursday was 44 per cent - while this is far below the 61 per cent turnout seen in 2021, this is considered a high turnout for a midterm by-election.
Speaking to BBC The Sunday Show, Mr Swinney said he recognised the SNP did not do enough to win this by-election.
He said: “I am disappointed we didn’t win the by-election because we fought an energetic campaign with an excellent candidate and set out the rationale for voting SNP.
“I recognise that was not enough to win this constituency and we have got to build on that.
“We must recognise I came into office a year ago with an inheritance of difficulties for the SNP and we are in the process of recovery - we have not recovered, we are recovering.”
He said he believed the primary issues for voters in the constituency were the cost-of-living crisis and the NHS, two issues which he says will now be his focus as First Minister.
He was also questioned on comments he made before the by-election that it would be a two-horse race between his party and Reform UK, dismissing Scottish Labour’s potential in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
Mr Swinney said: “What I said transpired - the Labour vote collapsed.
“A year ago [in the general election] Labour commanded 50 per cent in this constituency and on Thursday that fell to just over 30 per cent.
“My point is that Labour support has collapsed compared to last year and Reform support has surged - that says to me that we must do all we can to stop Nigel Farage and Reform succeeding, and the best way to do that is to vote SNP because the Labour vote is collapsing.”
He added he will “make no apology” for standing up to the “Brexit author” Farage.
Since the by-election defeat, there have been calls within the party for Mr Swinney to resign as SNP leader with party veterans warning renewal now needs to happen urgently.
Mr Sarwar, meanwhile, accused Mr Swinney of running a dishonest campaign by focusing on the rise of Reform rather than the SNP’s record in government.
He said: “All the issues you want to ignore that affect people’s day-to-day lives are the responsibility of the Scottish Government - that’s why the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse utterly rejected the SNP.
“These people sent a message to Mr Swinney, who ran a dishonest, disgraceful campaign of pushing people into the arms of Reform rather than confronting the issues he has caused.
“That is why people want him removed from office, and if you want them out of office, you have to vote Labour.”
Mr Sarwar said he learned three things from the by-election victory - that voters are “tired of the SNP government that has failed them”, that Scots “reject the noise” of Reform UK, and that Scots want to see the UK Labour government moving faster on turning around their lives.
Mr Sarwar also said he spoke with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Friday following the by-election victory, and said he wants to see the two-child benefit cap removed “as fast as possible”.
On Sunday Mr Swinney also ruled out doing any sort of deal with Mr Farage if they do well in next year’s Holyrood election.
Reform UK is sitting at just under 20 per cent in the Holyrood polls, with some suggesting the party could become the official opposition in the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, he pledged to never work with Mr Farage.
When asked if he would consider a coalition between the SNP, Labour and the Greens to keep Reform UK out of government, Mr Swinney said: “We’ll be going into that with the aim of winning that election.
“If you look at the result on Thursday, all the pollsters say that if that was applied across the wider electorate in Scotland, the SNP would remain by a country mile the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament.
“Now that’s not good enough - I want to get stronger in that election, but I’ll tell you one thing I will not do under any circumstances is do any form of deal or cooperation with Farage.
“I just won’t do it, and people need to understand that.”
Mr Swinney also said he would be looking at his cabinet team shortly as Energy Secretary Màiri McAllan is due back from maternity leave shortly.
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