SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has claimed a by-election victory for his party in Yorkshire could cause a “psychological shift” in the minds of Scots, as he insisted people would now start to believe they could win elections again.
The Tories were dealt a major blow as Labour reclaimed Wakefield after the resignation of former Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan, who was jailed in May for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008.
Simon Lightwood defeated Tory candidate Nadeem Ahmed by 4925 votes in the poll to overturn a majority of 3358.
The win signifies Labour's first by-election gain since Corby in 2012.
Meanwhile, the LibDems’ Richard Foord won the Tiverton and Honiton by-election as his party overturned a Conservative majority of more than 24,000.
Nicola Sturgeon said the results represented a "monumental, massive, humiliating vote of no confidence" in the Prime Minister and it has led to the resignation of Oliver Dowden as Conservative party chairman.
In a chat with LBC, Sarwar claimed the victory could lead to a “huge shift” in the mindset of Scotland as he said it showed people were starting to believe in Labour again.
When asked how politicians in Scotland would be reacting to the Wakefield result, he told the radio station: “First of all, the biggest psychological barrier for us to win back seats in Scotland is that people haven't believed in the last three General Elections that Labour can win, and when people don't believe Labour can win the contest in Scotland becomes who can best oppose the Tories rather than replace them.
“And I think people in Scotland can see that Labour is winning again, and can win the next General Election.
“The second thing is, what the SNP have tried to do in recent years is try and pretend that, somehow, people in England are different from the people in Scotland, that ultimately we know we have higher levels of morality, we have higher levels of dignity, we have different expectations of our politicians, we have different expectations of our government, essentially these people are different to us.
“And I think these two results demonstrate that wherever you live across the UK, you can recognise that this is a Government that is devoid of any ideas , devoid of any principles and we want to boot them out, and that's a big psychological shift I think for the mindset in Scotland.”
Sarwar also claimed the result could affect Nicola Sturgeon’s push for an independence referendum, which the Scottish Government wants to hold in October next year.
He said “the last big argument” the SNP had for a referendum was “Boris Johnson’s Tories”.
But he insisted there was now a chance for Labour to show people they could express their anger for Johnson’s party without voting for indyref2.
He added: “The last big argument the SNP have around an independence referendum and independence is Boris Johnson's Tories.
“And I think if we can demonstrate to people that you can express your anger for the Tories, you can get the change you want in our country to bring democracy closer to home, but also bring economic and social powers closer to home and change closer to home without going for independence in a referendum by booting out the Tories in the next General Election, that's a huge shift in mindset in Scotland.”
