They are the words Humza Yousaf has been dreading: Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. South Lanarkshire Council confirmed yesterday afternoon that Margaret Ferrier, the incumbent MP, has been recalled by her constituents via petition. Ferrier was elected as an SNP MP but now sits as an independent after admitting that she travelled between London and Scotland on public transport having tested positive for Covid-19. She is currently serving a Commons suspension for these actions.
The by-election will be a major test for the First Minister and a chance to put his nightmare first four months behind him — or extend the agony, if his party loses the seat. Rutherglen and Hamilton West used to be Lanarkshire Labour heartlands, redder than a pillar box. In 2010, the last election before the SNP’s 2015 landslide, Labour won the seat with 61 per cent of the vote. It was one of a handful the party managed to claw back from the SNP in 2017, though it promptly lost it again in 2019.
Starmer still doesn’t seem to get Scotland
While the Ferrier issue looms large, the significance of Rutherglen and Hamilton West goes beyond an MP’s idiocy and her constituents’ frustration.
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