Path to Downing Street runs through Scotland - Ian Murray

I am incredibly privileged to be able to serve south Edinburgh, but I’ve long wanted to have a few more Scottish friends in Westminster to share the load.

Yet when Keir Starmer appointed me as his Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in the summer of 2020, the question I faced most from journalists was not will we gain more Labour MPs in Scotland, but simply – could Scottish Labour survive?

After nearly a year in the job, I was delighted when Anas Sarwar took over as Scottish Labour leader, and from that point on we really haven’t looked back. Anas transformed our party by having a relentless focus on the issues that matter most to Scottish voters.

Last Thursday, we took the biggest step yet when Michael Shanks stormed home with a seismic Labour victory in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. Michael, a teacher local to Rutherglen, and a disability scouts group volunteer, is the very essence of what the Labour Party should be about. He has a deep commitment to his community, public service, and to his values. It’s no wonder that Michael was the star of this week’s Labour conference in Liverpool.

It was an exhilarating week on the banks of the Mersey, in stark contrast to the chaos of the previous week when the Tories met in Manchester and the looming chaos we can expect when a divided SNP meets in Aberdeen this weekend.

In the Labour Party we relish the forthcoming General Election, when we have the opportunity to get the Tories out of office. When the tide of change comes, it comes hard and fast (which we know very well ourselves). In Scotland, we will fight for every vote with a relentlessly positive campaign focused on delivering the change that people want so that we can build a brighter future.

No SNP MP can sit safely, taking their communities for granted as so many have. The SNP’s plans for independence lie in tatters; even SNP politicians recognise that there won’t be a referendum anytime soon. And while the Tories claim to be the defenders of the Union, they have left it more damaged than ever before. It is only Labour that can deliver the change our communities so desperately want, by rewiring the United Kingdom so that it delivers for every part of our country.

When voters go to the polls at the next election, they will have a ballot paper with a clear choice on it: a Scottish Labour MP delivering a progressive agenda which grows our economy, promotes our nation around the world and delivers fairness at its heart; or an SNP MP languishing on the opposition benches while the Tories crash the economy and make working people pay for it.

There is still a huge mountain to climb to deliver change. But as Keir Starmer said this week, the path to Downing Street runs through Scotland, and together we can kick the Tories out of office. Time to give the country its future back.