Can Scottish Labour pull off an election victory?

After decades in the shadows, members of the Scottish Labour party are back out in the open, their confidence growing. Emboldened first by polls signalling the very real prospect of Sir Keir Starmer becoming the next prime minister, Scottish Labour politicians now watch with tastefully concealed glee as the SNP – under the stewardship of new leader Humza Yousaf – sinks into deepening crisis.

The mood in the party – which is led in Scotland by 40-year-old Anas Sarwar – has, says a senior source, changed completely. ‘It’s like night and day. When Anas Sarwar became leader in 2021, people might sidle up to him at events and whisper good wishes, now they’re happy to be open about their support.

‘Anas and Keir did an event for business leaders in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago and more than 150 people came along. Two years ago, we’d have been lucky if 15 had signed up.’

During the 2014 independence referendum campaign, the SNP so successfully characterised Labour as ‘red Tories’ to be despised that there were genuine concerns for the then-leader Ed Miliband’s safety when he visited Edinburgh to campaign for a ‘No’ vote.