Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to call on Keir Starmer to stand down | Labour

Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar will call on Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister and Labor leader at a hastily organized press conference in Glasgow.

Sarwar is said to be furious because he thinks the prime minister’s repeated mistakes have seriously damaged support for Scottish Labor ahead of crucial Scottish parliamentary elections in May.

Latest opinion polls show Labor in third place behind the Scottish National Party and Reform. Sarwar and his advisers calculated that it would be impossible for Starmer to recover from the scandal surrounding Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.

Sarwar’s team was deeply angered to learn last week that the prime minister had argued internally that he should remain in office to help Scottish Labor win the May election. They believe polls show Starmer’s continued leadership will destroy Scottish Labour’s electoral chances.

The poll by More in Common on Friday revealed Labor had fallen four points to third place behind Reform in the Holyrood constituency vote and was one point behind Reform in the list vote.

Until the latest developments in the Epstein scandal, Sarwar repeatedly defended Starmer’s record and offered interim support to the prime minister until last week.

In the months following Scottish Labour’s success in the 2024 general election, when it won 37 of Scotland’s 57 Westminster seats, Sarwar was extremely confident of winning the Holyrood election.

He raised more than £1 million in donations, gaining support from wealthy Scottish business leaders who believed Scottish voters were tired and disillusioned with the SNP after 18 years in government.