Sarwar vows to ‘defy the odds’ and become Scottish first minister

Anas Sarwar has kick-started his bid to become Scotland’s next first minster, saying he will “defy the odds” to win next year’s Holyrood election.

The Scottish Labour leader made plain his ambition in his speech to the party’s conference in Glasgow on Friday, outlining a string of “bold actions” Labour will take if it ousts the SNP from power.

He said Labour will ban mobile phones in school classrooms if it forms the next Scottish government, as well as vowing to end rough sleeping, and unleash the “largest housebuilding programme in decades” to “make the dream of home ownership a reality again”.

Sarwar also pledged to “do whatever it takes to fix our NHS” – saying he will bring in changes so Scots can see a GP within 48 hours and action to cut waiting times for treatment, opening up the prospect of NHS patients having their operations in other parts of the country or in the private sector.

Anas Sarwar used his conference speech to outline a range of policies he vowed to enact as first minister. PA Media

He made the commitments as he insisted Scotland needs a “new direction”.

His conference speech came at a time when support for Labour in Scotland has dropped in the polls, following unpopular decisions taken by Sir Keir Starmer and his UK Government to end the winter fuel payment for pensioners and not to award compensation for women affected by inequalities in the state pension system.

However after Labour swept to power in last July’s general election, with 37 Labour MPs from Scotland amongst those returned to the Commons, Sarwar said his party can repeat that success next May.

He told the conference: “I am determined that we will defy the odds again and that we will win the election in 2026.”

Anas Sarwar was joined on stage by his wife Furheen after his conference speech. PA Media

Sarwar described the ballot as a choice between “more of the same and managed decline with John Swinney and the SNP” or a “new direction with me and the Scottish Labour Party”.

Setting out his ambition for the country, he declared: “I am standing to be Scotland’s first minister.

“And I have set some out the bold actions I will take.”

He promised there will be “no more tinkering around the edges” and “no more passing the buck”, vowing that in power he will bring in “big, bold, meaningful change”.

In a challenge to Swinney, he told the SNP leader: “You can’t fix the problem, so move aside because as first minister I will.”

Sarwar added: “The SNP cannot meet the challenges of today, nevermind tomorrow.

“They are not what they were. They are tired, divided, and out of ideas.

“After nearly two decades in power, they’ve had their chance.”

Setting out his plans for the health service, he told delegates that after working as an NHS dentist, “fixing our NHS is personal to me – it’s in my DNA”.

Saying one in six Scots are “stuck on an NHS waiting list”, he said as first minister he will “declare a national waiting times emergency and do whatever it takes to fix the NHS”.

He also promised to overhaul the “bureaucratic and archaic structures” in the NHS, and cut the number of health boards in Scotland to just three.

He said a future Labour Scottish government will “also plan for the future of our health service”, adding: “I will take on the top-heavy management that is holding the NHS back and deliver the biggest and most meaningful NHS reform in decades.”

He vowed to “cut the number of health boards down to three”, saying it will move “power away from the boardrooms and to patients and staff on the front line”.

Sarwar said “put bluntly”, this will mean “fewer managers, more nurses” and “fewer chief executives and more doctors”.

He told Scots: “As first minister I will make sure your money is spent on the nurses and doctors, not the bureaucrats and the pen-pushers.”

But he added: “It not just our NHS that needs a new direction after nearly two decades of the SNP.”

On education he promised: “As first minister, I will ban mobile phones in classrooms and make schools safe, calm places for learning again.”

With homeless numbers rising he also said a Labour government will bring about the “largest housebuilding programme in decades, building more homes across all tenures”, and said cash from public pension funds will be used to build more social housing.

Adding that 242 Scots died last year while sleeping rough, in what he branded a “damning indictment on Government failure”, he added: “As first minister I will end rough sleeping in Scotland once and for all.”

Elsewhere in the speech he said Labour in power will “have our own department of government efficiency” – mirroring the body headed by Elon Musk in the US.

Sarwar said this is because as first minister he will “respect every penny” of taxpayer money, promising the move will help “stop the waste and deliver value for money”.