Now Starmer vows to kick SNP out of Holyrood after surge in support for Labour in Scotland

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday served notice on John Swinney that he wants him out of Bute House in less than two years’ time.

Speaking ahead of meeting the First Minister, the Prime Minister said that after toppling the Conservatives at Westminster, Labour intended to oust the SNP from Holyrood.

Addressing a gathering of his Scottish MPs, Sir Keir told them: ‘This is part one, part two comes in 2026 and imagine what we could do, what more we could do.

‘We start the delivery now because that mandate we won on Thursday was a very clear mandate for change, for change across the whole of the United Kingdom, a mandate that we hold here in Scotland, in Wales, in England.’

He was echoed by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who said the party was already working towards victory at the 2026 Scottish election.

He said: ‘People on Thursday didn’t just vote for change from one failing government, they recognised they wanted change across Scotland too.

‘That’s why yes, we get straight to work to deliver a UK Labour government, but we also redouble our efforts here in Scotland so in 2026 we complete stage two of change and elect a Scottish Labour government too.’

Sir Keir’s first official as Prime Minister was to meet Mr Swinney before travelling to Northern Ireland and Wales as part of a round Britain trip.

A protest by around 200 pro-Palestine supporters outside the building forced the Prime Minister to use the backdoor, rather than pose for photographs on the front step.

However the visit to Mr Swinney was nevertheless a brutal statement of intent that Labour has its sights set squarely on removing the SNP from power north of the Border.

Speaking to the press before the encounter, Sir Keir said he wanted to ‘work better’ and ‘more respectfully’ with the Scottish Government after years of constitutional feuding.

He said: ‘One of the reasons I wanted to come to Scotland was to make good on my promise to Scottish voters that I would deliver for Scotland after this general election.

‘So we start that delivery now, that change now, that’s why I invited the first minister to set the framework within which we can work I think, better for Scotland, more respectfully for Scotland, and that change starts now.

‘We wouldn’t have won if we hadn’t changed the Labour Party. That’s why it’s very important for me to have my first engagement with Anas because it was Anas’s leadership that changed Scottish Labour and allowed us to return a team of 37 Labour MPs in Scotland.

‘Obviously in 2026 we campaign hard and, you know, for obvious reasons want that success.’

Asked if he thought Mr Swinney was a lame duck leader, Sir Keir said: ‘I am going to see the First Minister and I intend to reset the relationship between the Westminster Government and for Scotland, and that is because I have operated on the principle of country first and party second.’

Mr Sarwar added: ‘We’re going to respect the office [of First Minister], respect the role, because we need to work together for Scotland.’

Sir Keir said he was ‘really pleased’ about meeting Mr Swinney so quickly after the pair spoke by phone on Friday and considered it was ‘very significant’ for both of them.

He said: ‘I will work with anyone, whatever rosette they’re wearing, if they genuinely want to deliver change for communities. 

'My door is open to anybody who genuinely wants to bring about change, because my mandate is for change and I intend to deliver it For Scotland and for the whole of the United Kingdom.’

The last Prime Minister to visit Bute House was Boris Johnson in 2019, when he was booed on his way to meet then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The obvious tension between the two leaders led to an awkward photo op on the doorstep.

Mr Johnson’s successor, Liz Truss, did not visit or call Ms Sturgeon.

And although he met and called both Ms Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, Rishi Sunak never made it to the A-listed Georgian mansion on Charlotte Square.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray was jeered by protestors when he left Bute House to get a taxi shortly after 6.30pm.

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