SCOTTISH Labour chief Anas Sarwar has said he didn’t realise how “hollowed out” the party was before he became leader in 2021.
According to the MSP, Scottish Labour fundraised just £250 in the 12 months before he was elected.
Speaking to Times Radio, Sarwar urged colleagues not to downplay his party’s failings – telling listeners: “The Labour Party’s not been good enough, that’s why we’ve kept losing elections.
“Anyone that tells you, ‘we’ve been great, it’s the punters that have been wrong’, is absolutely wrong.
“The public are right, we were wrong. We have not been good enough and that’s why we’ve kept losing elections, and we have got to be worthy of people’s support again.”
Sarwar said that a “big challenge” lies ahead in trying to regain ground in Scotland – after losing two seats at the 2021 Holyrood election.
Despite recovering somewhat from the lows of 14% recorded in Holyrood opinion polls under Richard Leonard’s leadership, Scottish Labour have yet to see a major polling boost.
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“We have got to demonstrate to people the kind of alternative we can have and the difference it would make to people’s lives so they positively vote Labour, not just negatively vote against the Tories or the SNP,” he said.
“It’s bloody hard work, it’s a lot of time. I always knew it was going to be a big task and a big challenge.
“If I’m honest, I didn’t quite grip or grasp how I think hollowed out we were as an organisation, not just in terms of our political message and our political result, as an organisation I hadn’t really grasped how hollowed out we were.
“I mean, the example I’ve used before is I think in the 12 months leading up to me becoming leader, I think the entire Scottish Labour Party fundraised £250.”
He said that since he took over the party has raised nearly £1 million.
UK Labour chief Keir Starmer visited Scotland two weeks ago in an effort to promote his party’s vision for Scotland.
During the trip he repeated that Gordon Brown would be putting together a positive case for the Union – as support for independence and the Union were neck and neck in the latest polls.
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“I’ve asked Gordon to look at the whole question of how we make the positive case for the Union, and that’s across the whole of the United Kingdom,” he said on the visit to Glasgow’s Forge market.
“Obviously there is a red line, which is we want to hold the Union together. That’s very important.
“But otherwise I am open-minded as to how we make the positive case for the Union.”
His comments were rejected by SNP deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald, who said: “the people of Scotland have already voted decisively for a referendum and Keir Starmer needs to respect that”.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she intended “to do everything that’s within my power” to hold a second vote on the future of Scotland’s place within the United Kingdom before the end of next year.
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