Exclusive:Why Anas Sarwar admits Labour faces 'long hard road' to 2026 Holyrood election

Anas Sarwar has admitted there is a “long hard road” ahead for Labour to deliver the positivity of the party’s election promises but doesn’t think the gloomy financial picture will ruin his chances for Holyrood in 2026.

The Scottish Labour leader was speaking after he launched an attack earlier this week on the SNP for pointing the finger at his party for the Scottish Government’s budget deficit this year that has led to controversial cuts to arts and nature funding and the reinstatement of peak rail fares.

The SNP has claimed that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ warning over spending cuts has caused the Scottish Government to revise its spending in this financial year - but the independent Scottish Fiscal Commission found that SNP ministers had made pay deals without the funding in place. A cut to winter fuel payments by Ms Reeves has impacted Scotland, with the SNP replicating the move.

Read more: SNP decisions to blame for Scotland Budget 'pressures', say independent experts

But Labour has come under fire for its dire economic scene-setter - amid criticism the party is continuing austerity from the Conservatives.

Speaking to Scotland on Sunday, Mr Sarwar rejected the claim, insisting Labour is “going to take a serious grown-up approach” and reject the “sticking plaster approach” he accused both the SNP and Tories of pursuing. 

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.

The Glasgow MSP has stressed his strategy for taking Labour into victory in the 2026 Holyrood election is a focus on the economy.

He said: “One of the biggest gaps we've had in public policy here in Scotland is that we have rightly had a huge focus on social policy, but we have not had an equal focus on economic policy. 

“Scotland's budget is now directly linked to our growth here in Scotland and also, through the fiscal framework, the size of us on the medium wages - both of which the SNP has failed to properly plan for.”

Labour has stressed that by growing the number of people in the medium wage base, the benefits to the economy will grow exponentially.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Mr Sarwar added: “We are going to put economic policy and economic growth front and centre - that increases the size of the cake rather than the cake shrinking year after year and the slices getting thinner and thinner.

“We are a country now that is bureaucracy-heavy, we have lots of layers of management where there are talking shops, where there are discussions - when instead, that money can be spent on frontline services and frontline staff.”

Asked if Labour's Westminster record will put people off voting for him in 2026, Mr Sarwar rejected the notion.

He said: “I think what people will appreciate is the huge sigh of relief we've got at getting rid of a Tory government, secondly, that we've ended the economic incompetence and carnage across the UK and that we finally have a serious grown-up government that is going to get on and fix the fundamental talk of stabilising our economy - growing our economy. 

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images

“That is not going to be an easy process and we have never pretended it was. We are not going to be able to fix every problem straight away.” 

Mr Sarwar added: “There’s no magic wand, nothing is fixed overnight.

“This is a long, hard road but we only start that journey for change if we elect a Labour government and that journey has already begun.”