ANAS Sarwar is confident he can pull off what would be one the biggest comebacks in Scottish political history to become first minister of Scotland.
The Labour leader, speaking at an event on the eve of the Holyrood election, announced he “will be the First Minister” – but not until 2026.
At a rally also attended by Gordon Brown, Sarwar said it would be unrealistic to expect his party to triumph in this week’s vote, but encouraged supporters to dream of a Labour-led government in five years’ time.
He said: “This campaign isn’t about one day on May 6. Be in no doubt: this campaign is part of a journey, a journey to having a Labour First Minister and a Labour government."
Sarwar then told backers that he “will be the First Minister of this country”, but that his immediate priority was to ensure the party was a “credible alternative” to the SNP.
READ MORE: Latest Holyrood election poll predicts SNP will win majority
Speaking afterwards, he said he is “ready to serve” as First Minister if his party defies the odds to win the election, according to the i newspaper.
“I’ve been in the job for nine weeks, I would love to believe that we could complete that journey over a 10-week period but I’m being realistic,” Sarwar said.
“I would love to be First Minister after the election tomorrow, that’s of course up to the good people of Scotland to decide if that’s what they choose. I’m accepting that may be just a mountain too high for me at the moment, but if that’s what they choose, I have a recovery plan ready to go to help us transform this country.”
Recent polls suggest that despite improving personal approval ratings for Sarwar, his party faces an uphill battle to dislodge the Tories from second place.
The latest opinion poll published before the Labour chief's speech suggested the party was on track to remain in third place behind the Tories.
Ballot Box Scotland analysis of the Ipsos MORI survey forecast 19 seats for Labour, five fewer than in 2016.
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