The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sarwar welcomes progress, but says ‘I’m no Superman’
Anas Sarwar welcomed Labour’s “progress” in the polls but says he is not a superhero who could reverse a 20-year decline in 10 weeks.
Mr Sarwar succeeded Richard Leonard as Scottish Labour leader in February, and a poll yesterday showed the party improving its showing in both the constituency and list vote, although it is locked in a battle with the Conservatives to become the largest opposition group.
In an interview with David Mac Dougall on our Election Hub Live broadcast Mr Sarwar said he always recognised the scale of the challenge facing Labour if it is to return to anything close to its former dominance.
“When I took over the job just eight weeks ago we were at 14% in the opinion polls, the Greens were making bold predictions that they were going to push the Labour Party into fourth place,” he said.
“I think we’ve seen in the eight weeks that we have made progress and we can see Labour rising in the polls.
“We’ve got another week left in this campaign and I want to persuade as many people as possible that we can choose something different.”
The apparent upturn in Labour’s fortunes has often been put down to favourable approval ratings for Mr Sarwar but he insisted he is not getting carried away.
“I’m not pretending to be some kind of superhero who can reverse the 20year decline in a 10-week period. But what I do want to do is reverse that decline, recognise that we still have work to do and I was, from day one, very clear that I want to work day and night to give people the Labour Party they deserve.”
Mr Sarwar ruled out any coalitions or deals with other parties but said he would work with anyone on specific issues.
“When we created the Scottish Parliament it was meant to be a chamber where no one party had full control, and it was encouraging parties and politicians to work together in the national interest, to make Scotland a better place.
“It also matters who the opposition is. It can’t just be an opposition that wants to talk about division almost as much, if not more, even, than the SNP.
“It can’t just be an opposition that wants to play childish games.
“It has got to be an opposition that pulls the parliament, pulls the government, towards that focus on the national recovery, because it’s in our collective interest to come through this as a stronger and fairer nation.”