Anas Sarwar’s dramatic press conference was not a spur-of-the-moment gamble, but a logical development, when looked at from the perspective of how Scottish Labour has been gradually evolving.

When Anas took over as leader five years ago, one of his first acts was to consult on a new logo and branding, then implement change.  The thistle logo and purple-turning-to-red gradient colour scheme we now have is clearly different from the English Labour Rose. A small point perhaps, but a symbolic one.

Mr Ross claims “Policy – or at least the important stuff – [is] being ultimately decided by head office”.  As a member of the last Scottish Policy Forum, I can assure Mr Ross that his statement has no basis in reality.  Naturally Scottish Labour cannot fully decide on matters which are reserved to Westminster, but our 37 Scottish Labour MPs are heavily involved in decision-making there.  On the important matters devolved to Scotland – Health, Education, Transport, Local Government and many more – our Manifesto was designed by Scots for Scots with no final decision being made by London.  Of course we looked at any sensible ideas which were floating around down South, but the final choice was always ours.  And at no point during the many discussions did I ever hear any of my colleagues say “We’d better not do this, because it will make us different from England.”

Just to be clear, London has no veto over candidate selection for the Scottish Parliament.  If they tried, they would have to deal with Dame Jackie Baillie – and we know who would win that one!

If we look back with the benefit of hindsight, there have been clear signs that Anas and Scottish Labour have had a different approach from Westminster, and for a long time. 

From the start of the Gaza crisis, Anas was out there arguing for a Ceasefire, with the full backing of Scottish Labour. And always ahead of Keir Starmer. 

Up until Mandelson, perhaps the single worst mistake made by Labour in government was the Cut to Winter Fuel Payments.  As a Constituency Labour Party Secretary, I am expected to toe the line.  However I spoke out publicly against it in October 2024.  While means-testing benefits is sensible, the cut-off point at Pension Credit level was far too low.  I argued that making the cut-off point around £30k would be reasonable.  As can be imagined, I was subject to some criticism from colleagues for this – until in November Anas retrospectively legitimised my public statement by announcing this was his approach too.

Anas has also called for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap, and at various times shown solidarity with striking workers.

Naturally there will have been many policy differences which did not go public.  Meanwhile Scottish Labour’s ongoing canvassing of the public mood revealed that Scots were becoming increasingly disenchanted with Keir Starmer.  The tipping point is when natural Labour supporters say – “Get rid of Keir and I’ll consider voting for you again.”

Despite all his tremendous work in getting Labour elected in 2024, Sir Keir Starmer is clearly on the way out.  Anas could not let Keir take Scottish Labour with him.   As a responsible leader, Anas cannot and will not let his candidates go down to defeat and then try blaming someone else. 

Looked at from Scottish Labour’s perspective, the bold statement by Anas at least gives us a fighting chance.   Even although Keir might stay till May, we don’t now have to defend his mistakes. 

The Scottish Parliament election in May should always have been about the SNP performance in office – spoiler alert: there is much room for improvement in this!  Freed of the ‘branch office’ tag for good, we can now make our case that Scottish Labour can do better for Scotland.    

Mike MacLeod is the Scottish Labour & Co-operative Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Orkney. The elections to The Scottish parliament take place on Thursday 7 May 2026.

“Are we on the radar ?” Labour’s Branch Office in Scotland.