PM to offer Swinney 'genuine seat at the table'

Ahead of the trip to the capital, Sir Keir said his government would "place Scotland back at the beating heart of everything we do."

He added: "To the people of Scotland, my message is simple and clear: You are at the heart of how we unleash prosperity across the country. We will rebuild a strong Scotland at the forefront of our decade of national renewal.

"My offer to the Scottish Government is the same. We can turn disagreement into cooperation and, through meaningful cooperation and a genuine seat at the table, deliver change for a generation."

Yesterday, speaking to journalists after the first meeting of his Cabinet, Sir Keir said he wanted to "establish a way of working across the United Kingdom that will be different and better to the way of working that we've had in recent years."

He said wanted to "recognise the contributions of all four nations."

The Prime Minister said his party had won a majority of seats in England, Scotland and Wales giving them a “clear mandate to govern for all four corners of the United Kingdom”.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer to meet with John Swinney

Sir Keir said he was “restless for change" and had been "planning for months to hit the ground running."

He pointed to two key ministerial appointments.

Sir Patrick Vallance, who was chief scientific adviser to the government during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been given a peerage and made Minister of State for science in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

James Timpson of Timpson shoe repairs will also be sent to the House of Lords and become the Minister of State for prisons, parole and probation.

He is well known for his work with offenders and working with prison leavers.

“I’ve been talking to them for some time about the need for the change that we will put in place," Sir Keir said.

The Prime Minister said he had held extensive conversations with Cabinet and there will be “further announcements in the coming days”.

“But, look, it is not an overnight exercise changing the country,” he added.

He said he had told his Cabinet “exactly what I expect of them in terms of standards, delivery, and the trust that the country has put in them”.

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Sir Keir and Mr Swinney spoke for the first time since the election on Friday night,

A spokesperson for the First Minister said he was “committed to working collaboratively and cooperatively with the UK Government on areas of mutual interest.”

They added: “The First Minister has outlined his priorities in government and believes there are many ways in which the two governments can work together to deliver progress on them for the benefit of people in Scotland.”

Mr Swinney previously told the Herald on Sunday that he would pledge his government to work with the new Labour administration.

Earlier in the day, while out on a celebratory walkabout in Clarkston with the new MP for East Renfrewshire, Blair McDougall, Anas Sarwar was asked if Sir Keir would work with Mr Swinney.

Mr Sarwar said: “We’ve seen for far too long conflict over co-operation and ultimately it is the people of Scotland that have missed out.

“We will always act in the national interest, we will always work together, where we can, to deliver for the Scottish people.

“But let’s be really clear – we’re not talking about a (Scottish) Government that is new in Scotland. This is an SNP Government that has been in charge for 17 years.

“Yes we’ll work together in the national interest to deliver for the people of Scotland but I have always been clear that this is just stage one of the change, stage two comes in 2026.”

“I am not in this to be an opposition politician," he added.

Scottish Labour won 37 of the 57 Scottish seats. A remarkable turnaround, given that in 2019 they won just one.

All of their gains came at the expense of the SNP, who returned just 9 MPs, their worst result since 2010.

Labour’s share of the vote went up by 17 percentage points, to 35.7%. Meanwhile, the SNP’s fell by 15 points from 45% in 2019 to 30%.

Mr Sarwar told PA: “What we achieved on Thursday night was simply historic. We now have a duty to go out there to all of the people that supported us, and indeed those who thought about supporting us but ultimately didn’t, and say thank you for putting your trust in Scottish Labour and we do not take that trust lightly.

“We will get to work straight away to make sure a UK Labour Government is working for Scotland, and we also get to work straight away to redouble our efforts to advocate what the change will be in 2026, because yes I want Scottish Labour to play its full part in delivering a UK Labour Government, not to be a drag in the ticket, but to be a gateway to that Government.

“But I also will not stop until we actually in 2026 elect a Scottish Labour government.”

READ MORE: Lib Dems take Charles Kennedy's seat back off SNP

Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, polling expert Mark Diffley of the Diffley Partnership, said Labour’s victory at the Holyrood election would depend on voters seeing some tangible change from Sir Keir’s government.

“Their big task now in the 18 months between now and when campaigning for 2026 begins, is to try and illustrate that the new Labour UK Government can deliver for Scotland, or stand up for Scotland, or there's some kind of largesse that comes Scotland's way.

“The risk for Labour is that they get bogged down with its economic inheritance and isn't able to do anything very quickly, in which case, those voters will probably think, okay, I lent you my vote, and nothing's really happened and I'll just go back to the SNP.”

Mr Diffley said voters would notice if the Labour government started to deliver on campaign promises, including some progress on GB energy, or devolving powers on migration.

“Even if voters in Scotland see public services in England improve a bit because of the Labour government - even though, of course, that's a devolved issue - people will notice that.”

“If they manage the next 18 months well, this is a game changer in terms of Scotland's politics. If Labour can keep hold of those voters then Anas is likely to become the next First Minister.

“The SNP will go into opposition, apart from anything else, the constitution will well and truly be kicked down the road for the foreseeable future.”