Sarwar accuses Swinney of 'dishonest' by-election campaign

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has accused John Swinney of running a "dishonest and disgraceful" campaign ahead of last week's Holyrood by-election.

Sarwar claimed the SNP were pushing voters to Reform UK through their tactics, which he described as "shameful" on BBC Scotland's Sunday Show programme.

But Swinney justified his "two-horse race" remark by saying Labour's vote share had "collapsed" in the by-election and that his party's own data showed a surge for Reform.

Scottish Labour won an unexpected victory in Thursday's by-election as Davy Russell took the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat.

The first minister also told the programme he would consider a reshuffle of his cabinet "in due course" following the defeat, which saw the SNP lose a seat previously held by the late Christina McKelvie.

In the run-up to the contest Swinney declared it a "two-horse race" between his party and Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

In a combative interview with presenter Martin Geissler, Sarwar said: "The people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse sent a message to John Swinney that he ran a dishonest and disgraceful campaign that attempted to push people into the arms of Reform, rather than confront the issues that he has caused in communities across Scotland."

Sarwar also said the SNP campaign, in support of candidate Katy Loudon, showed a lack of ambition and was "running down the clock" on its time in government rather than offering policies that would benefit people.

He added the first minister had "no idea about what's affecting the day to day lives of people in Scotland, which is a disgrace."

Davy Russell won the seat for Labour with 8,559 votes, a majority of 602 over the second-placed SNP.

Christina McKelvie, who died in March from secondary breast cancer, had held the seat since 2011.

Reform UK finished third with 7,088 votes, following a campaign that attracted criticism for a controversial advert that claimed Sarwar would prioritise people from Asian backgrounds.

The party's deputy leader Richard Tice said the result was a "massive boost" going into the May 2026 vote.

Meanwhile, Sarwar urged Sir Keir Starmer's government to move faster with delivering change that would put extra money in people's pockets.

He also attacked media pundits for being "obsessed with a Labour government" in Westminster.

Swinney later denied his "two horse race" comment was an attempt to eat into Labour's vote by spotlighting Reform.

The first minister told the programme he had been "standing up to Farage for months" and this had been crystallised during the by-election campaign.

Swinney also told the programme he believed Reform voters were motivated by anger at the cost of living.

When asked about the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle, the first minister replied: "I've got a cabinet minister coming back from maternity leave in Mairi McAllan, so I have to look at the team. I'll be doing that in due course."

He added that his party were still in "the process of recovery" after he was sworn in as first minister last May with the SNP facing "significant difficulties" at the time.

Swinney also said he would focus on improving public services - such as cutting waiting times for GPs - and mitigating the cost of living crisis before the 2026 Holyrood election.