The first clue that Scottish Labour might not be dead in the water came with a soundtrack by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Campaigning for the 2021 Holyrood Election, party leader Anas Sarwar joined an open-air dance class in the town of Livingston and – throwing all dignity to the wind – joined in. Then, just weeks into the job of leading what seemed to be a party in constant decline, Sarwar displayed some passable moves to the hit single ‘Uptown Funk’. A clip of the scene quickly went viral.

Young, energetic and likeable, Sarwar showed himself a good sport and that counted for a lot. Over the preceding years, as the SNP rose to political dominance at Holyrood, Scottish Labour politicians had grown accustomed to being treated with, at best, derision in the streets. As the party struggled t

See Full Page