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