Steerpike Steerpike

Scottish Labour admin slip-up sees party lines sent across Holyrood

(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Well, well, well. It’s not been a great start to the year for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party in Westminster and it seems the Scottish lot north of the border are having a tough time of it too.

Leader Anas Sarwar has seen his popularity fall towards the end of 2024 while his SNP rival John Swinney experienced a slight bounce at the end of 2024. Meanwhile combined poll predictions suggest that while the reds are likely to make gains in the 2026 Holyrood election, they have their work cut out if they want to become the party of government. And now questions are being raised about just how well operations are going behind the scenes – after the party’s policy team tonight sent a briefing of Scottish Labour’s lines for next week to, er, all Holyrood’s parliamentary staffers. What a start to the weekend, eh?

Screenshots of the briefing began circulating on Twitter this evening after nationalist staffers noticed the rather unexpected email appear in their inbox.

Steerpike
Written by
Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in