Labour defies pundits to see off Reform challenge – Daily Business

Labour defied the pundits to win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election in a three-way fight that will lift the party’s confidence ahead of next year’s Scottish elections.

The SNP had been expected to retain the seat left vacant by the death of former minister Christina McKelvie, but John Swinney’s party was pushed into second, with Reform UK third.

Victorious candidate Davy Russell had been mocked for being the “invisible man”, but Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the result showed the voters did want a Labour government at Holyrood and had rejected the SNP.

The campaign had been dominated by the nationwide surge of support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and it is unclear how much a toxic row over racism was a factor in the outcome. However, it was clear from Mr Russell’s comments after the result was declared that he saw Reform UK as the key danger.

“This community has sent a message to Farage and his mob: the poison of Reform isn’t us, it isn’t Scotland and we don’t want your division here,” he said. He added that the SNP has “wasted” the public’s money.

Mr Sarwar said the result showed the people want a UK Labour government “to go further and faster in improving their lives”, adding that “they’ve had enough of this SNP government. After 18 years they’ve let communities around the country down.”

He said the voters had “rejected the politics Nigel Farage and Reform” and described the result as “the first stone in the pathway to a Scottish Labour government next year.”

In truth, the result was close enough to suggest that this was not an overwhelming rejection of Reform which took 26.1% of the vote, against Labour’s 31.6%, and the SNP’s 29.4% while the Conservatives took just 6% a week before their Scottish conference.

The election result was declared after midnight, just hours after Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigned, saying “working to get the party elected was no longer “a good use of my time”.

Pollster Prof Sir John Curtice said Reform had almost matched its best performance in a Scottish election, and both the SNP and Labour need to think about how to deal with Reform. He estimates around one in six Labour voters from last year is now drifting to Nigel Farage’s party, and it has a “lot of work” to do to regain them.

He said the result was “very bad news” for the Tories, who are “being had for breakfast, lunch and dinner” by Reform.

Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice said the party was “thrilled to bits” with how the party performed, and that it was a “remarkable result. He said the other parties are “terrified” of Reform’s progress.

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney had predicted a two-horse race between his party and Reform and said the result showed there was clearly “work to do”.

He added: “Between now and May’s election, I and the SNP will set out a vision of hope and optimism. We will show people in Scotland that a better future is possible by taking decisions for ourselves – and that is how we will win in 2026.”

Result:

Lab: Davy Russell 8,559 (31.6%)

SNP: Katy Loudon 7,957 (29.4%)

Ref: Ross Lambie 7,088 (21.6%)

Con: Richard Nelson: 1,621 (6%)

Grn: Ann McGuinness 695 (2.6%)

Lbd: Aisha Mir 533 (2%)

Turnout: 44.2%

See also:

Reform thrown into chaos as chair resigns