‘Happy’ Sarwar basks in electorial performance plaudits but admits party has much to do ‘long term’
ANAS Sarwar has said voters are no longer “embarrassed” to say they support Labour as he returned to Holyrood.
The Scottish Labour leader said he was “happy” with how is party had done, compared to its popularity 10 weeks ago when he took over as leader. However, he acknowledged there was more to do in the long term.
Mr Sarwar replaced Richard Leonard as the party’s leader just before the election campaign began, and said he was “building an alternative” to the constitutional divisions of the SNP and the Tories.
He said: “I’m happy compared to where we were 10 weeks ago but am I satisfied in terms of where I want us to get to? Of course not. We are on a journey. and I recognise that fact. “
He said his party had run a “campaign that was positive and energetic,” and it was a sign that “that we have a credibility again, we are back on the pitch.”
He explained: “People aren’t embarrassed anymore to say they are voting Labour.
“People are proudly saying they support Labour, and they feel we are back on the pitch. That is a huge opportunity for us.”
Mr Sarwar faced criticism from departed MSP Neil Findlay, who said he was “rehashing” the campaign of 2016, and urged the leader to acknowledge that people in Scotland had a right to determine their future in the UK.
The Scottish Labour leader has said he does not support holding another referendum, or the prospect of Scotland becoming independent.
He continued:” I refused to talk to only half of the country in that election campaign, and I refuse to do that going into this next Parliament.
“We have huge challenges still confronting our country. Every political party made promises that they were going to have a focus, a relentless focus, on the recovery. I’m going to hold them to that.”
Paul Sweeney, former Labour MP and now MSP for the Glasgow list, said he was
“delighted” to be back in politics, having been effectively unemployed for the past year since he left Westminster in 2019. He said: “Labour is trying to rebuild itself in Scotland and Anas has made that clear.
“I want to focus on getting right back into the issues that matter to the people in my constituency, whether that is drugs consumption rooms and the drugs crisis, housing, homelessness ... I want to be Glasgow’s champion, and I’m so proud to be serving my city again.”