The Labour party could hardly ask for better than the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election as a means to judge the strength of their resurgence in Scotland. Sitting on the cusp of Greater Glasgow, it is situated in the party’s former central belt heartlands — an area once so Labour it was joked that votes for the party were weighed, not counted.
The seat was lost in the nationalist landslide of 2015 before Labour quickly won it back in 2017. Though the party lost it again to the nationalists in 2019, it now has an eminently beatable SNP majority of 5,230. Perhaps most importantly, the by-election is taking place because Margaret Ferrier, The SNP victor in both 2015 and 2019, was suspended from the House of Commons after breaking Covid rules.
The recall petition against Ferrier was endorsed by almost 12,000 constituents which means Labour already has a significant and motivated base of support.
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