Labour wins Glasgow as party retakes heartlands

Labour has won every seat in Glasgow as the party retook its traditional heartlands from the SNP.

Scotland’s largest city turned from yellow to red, with the SNP’s spokesperson for home affairs Alison Thewliss and former defence spokesperson Stewart McDonald among the MPs losing their seats.

Speaking in Glasgow, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the country can now turn the page on 14 years of Conservative “chaos and failure”.

The party triumphed in seats across the central belt, on what former MP Mhairi Black called a “cataclysmic” night for the SNP.

John Grady, who took Glasgow East with 15,543 votes, declared: “Many people have voted Scottish Labour for the first time, or the first time in many years.

“I will do everything I can to deliver on the trust people have put in Scottish Labour.”

Mr Grady added that his party would seek to make sure Glasgow’s “best days” were ahead of it.

Gordon McKee, who won Glasgow South, told BBC Scotland News that Scottish Labour MPs would be at the “very heart” of Sir Keir Starmer’s new government.

Mr McKee won his constituency with 17,696 votes, a 12.6% increase on the share of the vote in 2019, while Mr McDonald wound up with 13,542 votes – a drop of 16.3%.

It was a similar story across the rest of the city, with all the SNP candidates seeing double digit drops in vote share.

Glasgow West saw Patricia Ferguson – a former MSP for the party – take 18,621 votes for a swing to the party of more than 18%.

She said that Labour would “maximise Scotland’s interests at Westminster.”

Zubir Ahmed won Glasgow South West with 15,552 votes, Martin Rhodes took Glasgow North with 14,655 votes and Maureen Burke triumphed in Glasgow North East with 15,639 votes.

Turnout across the city was down on 2019, although the city’s boundaries have been altered since then with the removal of the Glasgow Central seat as a result.

However, turnout in Glasgow North East fell to under half the electorate, with just 47.06% going to the polls.

Michael Shanks, who won the Rutherglen seat with 21,460 votes, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that the low turnout in some seats did not indicate a lack of enthusiasm for Labour.

Mr Shanks previously won the old Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency last autumn, becoming one of only two Labour MPs in Scotland.

He said: “You can’t say there has been a lack of enthusiasm. Some of the swings to the Labour party… are outstanding results.”

He added that people in Scotland would see a “demonstrable” change in their lives over the course of Labour’s time in power.

Emotions ran high for some in the SNP.

Ms Thewliss, who served as an MP from 2015 and stood for the party’s Westminster leadership in 2022, was in tears as her supporters cheered and chanted “Oh, Alison Thewliss” after her defeat was announced.

A disastrous night for the Conservatives saw the party finish behind Reform UK in all six Glasgow seats, despite Nigel Farage’s party selecting “paper candidates” in a number of them.

There was cheer for the Scottish Greens, who took third place in each Glasgow seat with an increased share of the vote.

Glasgow City Council reported four cases of alleged “personation” – where a person votes as someone else – following the poll.

Three ballot papers were removed from the count as a result.

It is understood two of the alleged incidents are being investigated in Glasgow South West and one in Glasgow West.