Labour poised to stage a comeback as Scottish voters shift allegiance from the SNP
Labour is poised to stage a comeback north of the border as pollsters predict Scottish voters are set to shift allegiance after years of dominance by pro-independence SNP. The SNP, suffering from a bruised independence campaign and multiple scandals, is expected to lose ground to Labour – allowing the party to reclaim the seats that used to be Labour strongholds.
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00:00Eye on the ball, Labour's Scottish leader is aiming to knock out the Scottish National
00:06Party in the upcoming general election.
00:08So you want the red to take over the yellow, isn't that the whole point of this election
00:12campaign? And for the blues to be really far behind.
00:15In Scotland, the political landscape could be about to undergo a seismic shift.
00:21Well since really 2007 when the SNP first came to power in Scotland, the political system
00:26has been very dominated by them for a very long time and also by the issue of Scottish
00:31independence. This election is going to be looking like it's going to produce rather
00:35different results and there's a chance that for the first time in a very long time, Labour
00:38are going to take the most seats in Scotland again.
00:41My friend, Keir Starmer.
00:43It was in Glasgow that Labour leader Keir Starmer chose to launch his party's campaign,
00:48a signal that Labour believe they're about to stage a comeback north of the border.
00:54There's no Labour without Scotland. Scotland is central to the mission of the next Labour
00:59government.
01:02Back when Tony Blair was Prime Minister, at least 40 of Labour's MPs were from Scottish
01:07seats, a crucial part of their majority. But at the last election, just one Labour MP was
01:13elected. The party's current Scottish leader is confident that's about to change.
01:18If you look throughout history, Labour has always won big mandates to change the country
01:23when it's won in every part of the country and that includes here in Scotland. And if
01:26you look at where we were three years ago when we were 32 points behind the SNP, to
01:31now be in a position where every poll is showing us ahead of the SNP is an incredible transformation
01:36over the last three years.
01:38The SNP's decline in popularity has been accelerated by a spate of scandals, most notably the alleged
01:45misuse of party funds by former leader Nicola Sturgeon and her husband. That triggered multiple
01:52changes of leadership and now pollsters predict the SNP's so-called yellow wall could be about
01:59to crumble. Despite all this, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn is putting a brave face
02:06on his party's chances.
02:08So we know it's all to play for. It's all to play for. What you need to do is be confident
02:11about your message and we are very confident about our message under John Swinney's leadership.
02:16From the streets of Glasgow, Scotland's most populous city, there's a range of opinion.
02:22I think Labour really is the only option in Scotland, you know, if you want to see change.
02:27It's a waste of my time giving anybody my vote because I feel as if they all do the
02:32exact same thing.
02:33I'll vote SNP.
02:35I think it might just be people trying to give the SNP a kick up the bum to say, right,
02:40sort your internal affairs out a wee bit.
02:44Independence has long dominated the agenda north of the border and despite the SNP's
02:49woes, it could still affect the 2026 Scottish parliamentary vote.
02:55While it seems as though the tide is about to turn in Scotland, it may be too early to
03:00count out the SNP and Scottish independence for good.