Is Scottish Labour embarrassed by Starmer?

They had balloons, handmade posters and a big red van lit up with ‘Michael Shanks: A Fresh Start’ flashing on the side. The Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election is Labour’s to lose and don’t they know it. Despite the pressure on the modern studies teacher and now-Labour candidate Michael Shanks, the atmosphere at Labour’s by-election launch was relaxed – if the Glaswegian weather miserable. Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier lost her seat on Tuesday night and constituents will face a second vote in October, a by-election that will bring the SNP and Labour head to head. 

Tuesday’s result was a small win for Labour – literally. The recall petition’s low turnout of 14 per cent is nothing to boast about and suggests that while voters were unhappy with Ferrier’s Covid breaches – and perhaps with the SNP more generally – their apathy extended towards the Labour party too. Shanks has been campaigning with Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer for months, and while he has come across disillusioned SNP supporters, he accepts the task ahead of him is sizable.