Starmer insists he will lead Labour into Scottish elections amid speculation

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he will lead Labour into the 2026 elections in Scotland, Wales and English councils, after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham hinted at a potential future bid for the top job.

The Prime Minister also denied he had ruined Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s chances of becoming first minister, describing Mr Sarwar as an “excellent candidate”.

Mr Sarwar had earlier refused to pledge full confidence in the Prime Minister, saying “very few people have been told” about the Labour Government’s successes.

But he said the Prime Minister has “got a really difficult job” and had made “significant progress” in the past year.

In an interview with BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell, Sir Keir was asked if he had “ruined Anas Sarwar’s chances of becoming first minister” due to his own unpopularity.

Sir Keir said: “No, Anas is an excellent candidate who will be incredibly good for Scotland with an absolute focus on delivery.

“And it’s a choice between taking Scotland forward with Anas, a Labour first minister working with a Labour government in Westminster – we work together very well – or a third decade for this tired SNP government that has failed on so many fronts.”

He was also asked if he would definitely lead Labour into the 2026 elections in Scotland, Wales and local councils in England.

Sir Keir said: “Yes, when I took over as leader of the Labour Party, people told me I couldn’t change the Labour Party. I did.

“When we went into the general election, people told me, I couldn’t win and we did.

“Now I’m leading the change across the United Kingdom, including delivering better change for Scotland and I’ll continue to do so.”

Mr Burnham has hinted at future leadership ambitions as the Prime Minister continues to struggle for popularity.

Speaking to journalists in the Scottish parliament earlier on Thursday, Mr Sarwar – who has been an outspoken ally of Sir Keir since he took over as leader – refused to say if he has full confidence in him.

“He has got a really difficult job, we have made significant progress in the last year,” he said.

“If I’ve got one single biggest criticism of a UK Labour Government, it is there have been huge successes, but very few people have been told about them or know about them.”

The Scottish Labour leader cited that mortgage costs had come down in the past 12 months, while wages have increased, but he said the “average person doesn’t know” that.

Further pushed on whether he has full confidence in the Prime Minister, the Scottish Labour leader said: “I think to be even talking in those terms is frankly ridiculous.

“This is a Prime Minister who won a historic victory, removed the Tories from office, won a huge landslide, and now he has to get on with the day job.”

Mr Sarwar said people want to see “how the change is benefiting them and their families”.

He added: “It would be unrealistic to think that we’re going to solve every problem the country has within 15 months – there was 14 years of complete horror that was left by the Conservatives and we’ve got to get on with the work of fixing that.”

With an election looming in Scotland next May, Mr Sarwar added that the person who has to be removed from their job is First Minister John Swinney.

Asked if Sir Keir is the right person to be in Downing Street during that election, Mr Sarwar dodged the question, instead saying: “I think John Swinney is the worst person to be in Bute House and we need someone new in Bute House and that will come at the election in May.”

Pressed further on whether Sir Keir is the right man to be in the top job, Mr Sarwar said: “He is the Prime Minister, doing a really important job and he’s got to continue to do that job to improve the country.”

Also speaking to journalists on Thursday, Mr Swinney appeared to relish the issues facing the Labour Party, saying: “I’ll allow the Labour Party to fall apart as I lead the SNP to the success that we want to deliver.”

The comments came as a new Ipsos poll released on Thursday showed Sir Keir to be the most unpopular leader in Scotland, with a net favourability rating of minus 47% – worse than US president Donald Trump by one percentage point.