ANAS Sarwar has insisted that he is intent on transforming Labour back into a party of government in Scotland as he stressed he has cleaned up a legacy of “toxicity” left by his predecessor.

The Glasgow MSP took over the leadership of Scottish Labour in February 2021, but the party stuttered at the polls in last year’s Holyrood election, tallying up its worst showing at the ballot box in the devolution era.

But Labour has clawed back ground on the Conservatives, pipping Douglas Ross’s party in last week’s lcoal elections in terms of councillors elected and vote share.

Despite the positive result that saw the party increase its tally of councillors and first preference vote share, Mr Sarwar has told The Herald that his ultimate ambition is to transform Labour back into a government in waiting.

He said: “We’ve worked really hard over the last year to build credibility and I think people can see that we have a credible, future-looking Labour party again.

“I’m not pretending there’s not still work to do. But I think we’re on the right path.”

Since taking over the leadership of the party, Mr Sarwar said he has “done a lot of work in terms of improving likeability”.

He said: “The toxicity you’ve seen us face over the past number of years has clearly gone.

“People are more confident in saying that they vote Labour now – they don’t need to secretly saying they vote Labour.

“We’ve seen lots of people who have left us in recent years saying they’re coming back to Labour. That likeability has grown. We have to turn that into electability - that’s a longer-term project.”

A lot of focus in the lead-up to the local elections was the battle for second place between Labour and the Conservatives.

But Mr Sarwar said that he wants “for us to be in first place”.

He added: “I want us to do the work we need to do and I want to put everything I’ve got into it to get into a place where Labour is being in a position where we can form a government in Scotland and across the UK.

“Do I aspire for Labour to be a party of government? Absolutely.

“We are not a protest movement – we were not built to just talk about the wrongs in society, we were built out of a desire to correct the ills in society and change people’s lives. That’s the position I want Labour to be in.”

The Scottish Labour leader said in order to return his party to a realistic government in waiting, it would mean “not just waiting for the electorate to believe that the SNP deserve to lose in Scotland”.

He said: “I want people to believe that Labour deserve to win and we’re going to do the hard work to make that a reality and that’s a longer-term project to take us on that journey.”

Mr Sarwar also warned that the constitutional debate in Scotland over independence “suits the SNP and Tories”.

He said: “This constant obsession about either angry Yes or angry No suits them both – it distracts from two failing governments.

“The Tories want to pretend they are the great defenders of the United Kingdom. Boris Johnson is a joke, he’s a comedic figure, he’s a charlatan, he’s a liar, he’s a criminal.

“Frankly I’m sick of us being stuck between these two failing, out-of-touch governments. The sooner we can boot Boris Johnson out of office, it’s best for Britain. The sooner we can get credibility and replace this failing SNP government, I think is best for Scotland as well.”

Mr Sarwar has been compared to former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who managed to shift the Conservatives to the centre ground.

But he said that “ people can see I have my own distinct personality and identity”.

He added: “But you have to give credit where credit is due.

“Ruth Davidson was a different kind of Conservative and was trying to push the Conservatives into a more progressive part of our politics. That progressive part of the Conservative party is now non-existent – they’ve gone back to the conventional Tories.

“Just like Ruth Davidson did a good job of reframing the Conservative party, Nicola Sturgeon did a good job of re-framing the SNP. But ultimately, Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy will be one of dividing our country and not bringing it together and changing our country.

“I’m determined to build my own identity, to build my own relationship directly with the people of Scotland and I hope to demonstrate to them in the coming years that I’m serious about being on their side, I’m serious about a Labour party that’s worthy of their support and I’m serious about working with them to change our country.”