SNP makes clean sweep of Glasgow seats as Labour loses last city MP

The SNP capped another historic general election result last night by winning all seven constituencies in Glasgow, a city that less than a decade ago was viewed as an impregnable Labour fortress.

Jeremy Corbyn's party had entered the final week of campaigning hoping they could hold their last seat in the city, Glasgow North East, while chipping away at the slim SNP majorities in Glasgow East and Glasgow South West.

But in the end Labour was never close to winning any of the city's constituencies which instead all returned solid Nationalist majorities.

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Stewart McDonald won Glasgow South for the third successive time and increased his majority from 2027 to 9005 in the process. In his victory speech, the SNP defence spokesman claimed that while England may have voted for Brexit, "Scotland has voted for another independence referendum".

The SNP celebrating its victory in Glasgow. Picture: John DevlinThe SNP celebrating its victory in Glasgow. Picture: John Devlin
The SNP celebrating its victory in Glasgow. Picture: John Devlin

The first seat to declare in the city was Glasgow North, where Labour had hoped its highly-rated candidate, Pam Duncan-Glancy, could cause an upset.

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SNP candidate Patrick Grady need not have worried however, as he increased his majority to 5,550.

"It is an incredible privilege to be elected again," he said in his winners' speech. "The constituency that had the highest share of the Remain vote in the European referendum of any seat in Scotland.

"That message has been reinforced tonight. Scotland is a European country. We want no part in Brexit, and I will work to protect Scotland's right to determine its future membership of the European Union."

On a night of bitter disappointment for the party, one of the worst results for Labour in Scotland was its failure to hold Glasgow North East. Paul Sweeney, widely viewed as a hard-working constituency MP, was unseated by Anne McLaughlin - the SNP candidate who Sweeney had defeated in the previous election in 2017.

In a gracious acceptance speech, McLaughlin claimed she took no joy "in putting people out of work" as she herself knew what it felt like to lose in a UK poll.

But questions will be asked of Labour's local campaign, where activists were spread out across the city instead of focusing on defending its one constituency.

Labour 'absolutely gutted'

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The leadership style of Jeremy Corbyn - and his evident unpopularity during the campaign - was also called into question.

Anas Sarwar, a senior Labour MSP for Glasgow, said he was "absolutely gutted" by his party's performance.

"When the exit poll came out at 10pm my first thought was one of absolute devastation and heartbreak," he said. "We genuinely had some fantastic candidates in this campaign and I feel for each and everyone of them.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it. As well as that devastation, I feel anger. I am angry.We have an abomination of a prime minister in Boris Johnson. We have the politics of division right across the country, and at a time when the country is crying out for a credible Labour party, we have failed.

"It's no secret that Jeremy was a negative on the doorstep."

Labour's dismal performance was also evident in Glasgow East, where David Linden was defending a majority of just 75 for the SNP. This was the type of constituency the party really had to win if it was to stand any chance of taking power.

But, in a pattern repeated across the country, the Nationalists instead won at a canter - with Linden returned with a majority of 5,566.