Anas Sarwar achieved a rapturous applause from his party faithful as he told them he was submitting his application to become first minister. But the Scottish Labour leader faces an uphill battle.
Despite wiping out the SNP from Fife in 2024, Scottish Labour is still 17-points behind the nationalists.
If such a result was replicated at the voting booths tomorrow, the SNP would likely return to Holyrood with around the same number of MSPs as they currently have.
Can Anas Sarwar win in Tayside and Fife?
For Anas Sarwar, there is no route to power that does not travel through Tayside and Fife.
To have any chance of securing the keys to Bute House, he will have to turn around his party’s fortunes in areas like Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes – all areas which have backed the SNP at Scottish Parliament elections.
Mr Sarwar used his party conference in Glasgow to set out what he hopes is the start of an offer that will win over those voters.
It included promises around the NHS and education, and a commitment to wipe out inefficiency in government and ensure taxpayer cash is spent wisely.
On specifics, he pledged to ban mobile phones from classrooms – citing an attack on a school pupil in Fife.
He said: “There can never be a repeat of the sickening attack that took place in Waid Academy in Fife when a young girl was viciously attacked by a fellow pupil in a classroom while the entire ordeal was filmed on a mobile phone.
“More and more pupils are feeling unsafe in our classrooms.
“The mental health of our young people is being undermined – with catastrophic results.
“This has to end. That’s why, as first minister, I will ban mobile phones in classrooms and make schools safe, calm places for learning again.”
Labour says that rather than the current guidance which empowers headteachers to ban mobiles, they would instruct them to do so.
Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy MP Melanie Ward welcomed the move
She said: “ I’m delighted that Anas Sarwar has committed to banning phones in schools, something I have supported.
“This is a crucial step towards ensuring our classrooms are safe, focused places of learning. Parents, teachers, and pupils all deserve a school environment that prioritises education and wellbeing.”
NHS takes centre stage in Labour’s pitch to Scotland
Mr Sarwar also confirmed several pledges on Scotland’s struggling health service.
It included a commitment to ensure patients can see a GP within 48 hours, and a pledge to cut bureaucracy and slash the number of health boards from 50 to three.
But will the scale of the challenge facing the NHS be enough to drive voters toward Mr Sarwar’s party?
Chief among Mr Sarwar’s challenges is the unpopularity of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour-led UK Government.
Sir Keir’s rocky start with the public was laid bare in a recent poll which suggested he was viewed as a worse prime minister than Boris Johnson.
On the fringes of the party’s conference, Labour figures are tackling this question with a year until the 2026 Holyrood election.
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