Labour’s Starmer Pitches for Scottish Votes on Path to UK Power

Keir Starmer will pitch for votes in Scotland at a campaign event Friday that will see the Labour leader try to take advantage of turmoil in the Scottish National Party to cement his path to power at the UK election.

Ahead of the vote July 4, Starmer will tell Scottish voters that both the SNP and Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives at Westminster have “failed,” seeking to paint his Labour Party as a third way between the Tories and Scottish independence.

Labour would “chart a new course for the country,” and understand the “need for a new feeling in politics,” Starmer will say, according to remarks emailed by his office.

Starmer’s visit to Scotland early in the campaign sees him look to capitalize on the political problems faced by the SNP in recent years, culminating last month in the resignation of former First Minister Humza Yousaf, who was replaced by John Swinney.

Starmer is seen as the main beneficiary of the SNP’s issues, as wresting back Labour’s former strongholds in Scotland’s Central Belt, including Glasgow, from SNP control would be key to the party securing a robust majority.

Labour is ultimately seeking to replace the SNP as the largest party in Scotland. The party has historically needed to win constituencies there to take power. As recently as 2010, Labour won 41 of Scotland’s 59 seats in Westminster. But its vote share collapsed amid burgeoning support for the SNP’s pro-independence message.

Energy Policy

Starmer’s focus is another sign of how SNP has gone in less than two years from a seemingly unassailable position to a party racked by unforced errors.

The campaign event will be focused on energy policy and Labour’s proposal for a publicly-owned clean power company called Great British Energy, in light of the regulator Ofgem being expected to reduce the cap on energy prices in Britain on Friday.

Sunak’s governing Conservatives will seek to create a dividing line with Labour on energy policy and net zero by pledging that the cost of levies on energy bills will be lower in every year of the next Parliament than they were last year.

Labour “aren’t honest about the costs that their reckless net zero targets would place on households,” Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said in remarks released by the Conservative Party.

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