Uk political power . Hello. The turnout was low, a little over 37 . Most voters stayed at home. But the labour party is describing its victory in the rutherglen and Hamilton West by election as seismic. The partys candidate, michael shanks, won over 58 of the vote, more than double that of the snps katy loudon, who came second. That means the swing to labour was over 20 from the Scottish National party. Sir keir starmer claims the result is the first step on an important journey. The conservatives lost their deposit. Our scotland editor james cook has our top story. Michael shanks, scottish labour party, 17,840. Applause. Labour didntjust win here, they triumphed. The snp didntjust lose, they were trounced. My campaign has been focused on offering people here a fresh start, a break away from the divisiveness and distraction of two failing governments and to give a voice to those who are too often voiceless in our society. Applause. A few short hours and several gallons of coffee later,
Scotlands labour leader anas sarwar echoed these thoughts, saying his country would be key in delivering a uk wide labour victory, but the party must continue to work hard to regain voters trust. I am very clear that actually, scotland will lead the way in delivering uk wide labour government. And i think what you have seen happen in scotland over night is people move away and reject the politics of division, of chaos and incompetence and instead express a desire for a fresh start, express a desire for change. And they can now see that Scottish Labour is the vehicle for that change and that scotland will lead and that scotland will lead the way in delivering a uk wide labour government. A disappointing night for the snp. This is what humza yousaf had to say. A disappointing night. A tough night for the snp. Very difficult, of course. Theres a number of factors that played into that, we were told time and time again on the doorstep that margaret ferrier s reckless actions counted agains