Day: June 6, 2025

PM congratulates Davy Russell but Reform also performed strongly, gaining third place with 26% of the vote

• Scottish Labour win pivotal Holyrood byelection

Good morning. Assuming he was not awake at 1.36am, Keir Starmer woke up to good news this morning – Labour winning the byelection in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse for the Scottish parliament. It has gained the seat with a 7.4% seat from the SNP.

This is a surprise. A week ago the SNP were press relaeasing a Norstat poll for the Times suggesting they were ahead by 33%, with Labour on 19% and Reform on 18%. And the bookies had the SNP as the favourites too. Yesterday one firm had the SNP as firm favourites, followed by Reform, with the firm offering odds of 11/1 to anyone prepared to bet on Labour. Perhaps someone has made some good money. For the rest of us, this is a welcome reminder that opinion polls, and bookies’ odds, are not always a good guide to results, particularly in byelections.

Congratulations to @DavyRussell4HLS and the team on a fantastic victory. People in Scotland have once again voted for change.

Next year there is a chance to turbo charge delivery by putting Labour in power on both sides of the border.

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Victory over SNP and Reform sends strong signal to Scotland’s political parties before next May’s Holyrood elections

Labour’s victory in Hamilton is both a surprise and a vindication – a demonstration that in a byelection, shocks can take different forms.

It is a surprise to those of us in the outside world who felt certain of a Scottish National party victory, who saw Labour support plummet in the Scottish opinion polls, and the same polls showing Reform’s steeply rising.

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