In the early hours of this morning, Scottish Labour won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election in a three-way contest that turned out to be even tighter than expected. Local candidate Davy Russell clinched victory in a seat that the SNP has held for 14 years – despite running a media-shy campaign that saw him duck out of election debates and widely mocked for his discomfort on camera. But while Labour politicians insist this unexpected win shows they’re back on top – party leader Anas Sarwar even claimed he now ‘expected’ to win the 2026 Holyrood election – the numbers tell a slightly different story.
Hamilton’s by-elections have proven to be metaphors for political upheaval, and this time it is Reform’s breakthrough that is noteworthy.
Labour’s narrow victory – with 8,559 votes and a majority of 602 – saw Sarwar’s party backed by 31 per cent of voters, but its vote share was down and Reform UK was hot on its heels.
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