Scottish Labour’s conference in Glasgow at the weekend was a happier place than one might have expected – perhaps even more than it had a right to be.
Whatever the polls are saying – and they’re not saying anything good, with Labour now below 20 per cent in some polls – those in attendance were having an excellent time. And, I suppose, why not? Despite the troubles Keir Starmer and his ministers are experiencing, the party is in government at Westminster with a thumping majority. There are still four years to turn around a worrying narrative of misjudgment, and the Tories are precisely nowhere. This is, on the surface at least, a happy family.
Anas Sarwar delivered a fine speech, packed full of new policies that sought to answer the question that has increasingly been asked: what is Scottish Labour for? “Better written than last year’s, did what it needed to do,” said a senior party source. The leader’s squirrel-like energy and unassailable optimism are infectious, too. Then there were the Scots who also now happen to be UK ministers. These were treated as returning heroes, ubiquitous on the fringe circuit, bursting with pride at all the schemes and programmes they’ve launched. As Sarwar put it: “A UK Labour government with Scotland at its heart – with Scottish voices in the UK Cabinet, Scottish voices on our airwaves and Scottish voices on our frontbenches.” In his speech on Sunday, Keir Starmer reiterated the point, singling out Douglas Alexander, Kirsty McNeil, Michael Shanks and Ian Murray: “Scotland no longer sits on the Westminster sidelines.” This is not nothing.
So what do we know, now that Labour has begun to fill its yawning Scottish policy gap? If anything, there was too much content – a bewildering blizzard of plans and initiatives announced by Sarwar and his shadow team. But let’s not be churlish. This is a party attempting to look like a government in waiting.
Sarwar had previously announced – disappointingly for some of us – that as First Minister he would expensively maintain the “free stuff”: tuition fees, the baby box, prescriptions and bus passes. In his conference speech he talked of what he would change. There would be the “biggest reform of the NHS in decades” with bureaucracy slashed and the number of health boards cut right back. He would also declare “a national waiting times emergency”. Scotland would get a version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to streamline state activity. There would be an “Amazon tax” for online retailers, a ban on mobile phones in classrooms, and the introduction of English-style, directly elected mayors.
There is plenty of meat here. But Sarwar knows that Holyrood policy will not be enough. If the UK government cannot turn its fortunes around then he may be sunk however hard and cleverly he works. This is why everyone was waiting for Starmer. What did the PM have to offer a Scottish electorate that is showing signs of disillusionment, and which is increasingly willing to turn to the fringes of politics? He would speak at conference, but would he turn up?
It’s hard to argue that Starmer didn’t deliver. This was one of his better speeches, mixing international statesmanship with domestic passion, detail and a convincing grasp of Scottish issues. He reiterated his support for Ukraine in a passage that had diplomatic weight and emotional heft. Together, Scotland and the rest of the UK could “face down the instability of the world beyond these islands”.
There was a major announcement on Grangemouth, the loss-making oil refinery that is being shut down by Ineos with the loss of 400 jobs. Starmer pledged a £200 million investment in the plant’s future from the National Wealth Fund, 18 months’ full pay for every worker made redundant, a skills and training offer, and national insurance relief for any business within the Grangemouth free port area that takes on an unemployed plant worker. This received the biggest cheer of the speech. It was what the conference needed to hear: a UK Labour government intervening with the weight only it has to influence a major industrial and political problem.
The PM said the oil and gas industry, so important to north-east Scotland, would remain part of the UK’s energy mix “for decades to come”, even as the energy transition continues apace. His administration was working closely and well with the SNP Scottish government, but he added: “imagine what we could achieve with a Labour government in Scotland and a Labour government in Westminster”. That, he said, “is an offer we can take to Scotland with confidence” as the 2026 election approaches. Reform UK, which is attracting voters across Scotland, also came under fire, but there was an admission that people are wondering what mainstream politics can deliver for their families.
Sarwar needed this, too. He has been set back by Starmer’s loss of popularity, with the Nats once again ahead in the polls. Scottish Labour’s support has dropped alarmingly (although it continues to do well in council by-elections, party sources point out). He required Starmer to look and sound in charge of the agenda. On this occasion, he did.
But if Starmer has four years, Sarwar has nothing like as much. He must oust the SNP from government in 15 months’ time, and will only do so if Labour at Westminster can restore its reputation. Starmer said he was “personally so grateful” to Scottish Labour for helping him into Downing Street. “There was a time, and it wasn’t that long ago, that people said Labour can never win in Scotland again,” the PM added. Labour’s two leaders still have work to do if this statement is to be banished from the national discussion for good.
[See also: Why Scottish Labour isn’t panicking]
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