PM less popular than Trump in Scotland, but Sarwar says Starmer will be part of his Holyrood campaign

A recent poll found that the Prime Minister was less popular than the US President in Scotland.

The Ipsos Scotland survey of 1,050 voters found the Prime Minister’s net favourability rating had dropped to minus 47%, a 7.5-point fall since February. The US president’s rating sat at minus 46%.

And while 20% of Scots have a favourable opinion of Trump, just 16% have a favourable view of Sir Keir.

Sources in Scottish Labour had suggested that Anas Sarwar needed to now distance himself from Keir Starmer if he was to succeed at next May's Holyrood elections.

But he told LBC's Iain Dale that would not happen.

"The next electoral choice is in Scotland and Keir Starmer's not a candidate for First Minister and Donald Trump's not a candidate for First Minister. Nigel Farage is not a candidate for First Minister. There are only two credible candidates for First Minister. That's John Swinney and me. And that's the competition I relish," he said.

"The best thing that the Prime Minister can do for everyone in Scotland and right across the UK, is to carry on with the hard work and demonstrate that a Labour government is delivering for Scotland and delivering for every part of the UK.

"Will the Prime Minister play a role in the campaign? Of course he will. Will he lead the campaign? No, he won't. I will lead the campaign. I am the candidate for First Minister so I'll be leading that campaign from the front."

Asked about his own favourability ratings which have also fallen to their lowest level, he added: "Approval ratings go up and down. I'm confident in the next seven months, we can demonstrate that I have the best ideas for Scotland, that I've got the most energy and optimism for Scotland, and I'm the most ambitious for Scotland, and if we make that case, I think we can win that election next year. "

Mr Sarwar said that if Labour was to success next May he would seek to lead a minority government rather than enter into any formal coalitions with other parties.

"We're not going into the election, or planning on coming out of the election, looking to form formal coalitions. The SNP demonstrated in 2007 that actually a minority government can work in terms of the work of the Parliament, and a minority government is there at the moment.

"We'll go into the election, seeking to form a Scottish Labour government. will come out of the election seeking to form a minority's Scottish Labour government and on individual issues I hope we can find common ground with individuals."

And on the threat from Reform UK, he told Iain Dale: "The opinion polls are challenging. I'm not playing that down, but they're not in first place in Scotland, far from it. If anything, they look like they will replace the irrelevant Conservative Party.

"What the polls show is that, fundamentally, there's going to be a choice. It's either going to be John Swiney as First Minister and a third decade of the SNP, or it's going to be a Scottish Labour government with me as First Minister.

"When people have had to actually make choices in ballot boxes Labour is winning. We won the Hamilton by-election when many people were predicting we were going to come third, and at the recent Barrhead by-election, the Labour vote doubled, the SNP vote fell by a third, and actually, they only beat Reform by less than 100 votes. So are Reform a challenge? Yes, but all they are really is noise, and a noise that can help the SNP stay in power."

He added: What Reform has done in Scotland is, it's not that people think that Nigel Farage is the great saviour of Scotland or the UK, and actual fact is the opposite. I think people in Scotland will think the Nigel Farage is a chancer, a charlatan, and someone that has no interest in Scotland. But they're viewing Reform as is a vehicle for expressing their frustration.

"We've got to demonstrate to them one that a Labour government is delivering for them."

Asked if Scottish Labour needs to "wrap itself in a flag", he said: "Well, the Salttire is the Scotland flag... but Saltires alone don't make a difference to people's lives.

"The flag belongs to everybody but actually, what people are going to vote on is not on who flies the flag strongest, what they're going to vote on, is who's going to improve their lives."