As the Scottish National party and Scottish Labour launched their byelection campaigns a few streets apart on a blustery Wednesday morning, there’s one thing both parties could agree on: this contest and its outcome will have significance that extends far beyond the constituency of Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
Scotland’s first ever recall byelection – triggered after voters removed Covid rule-breaker Margaret Ferrier from the seat she won in the nationalists’ landslide of 2015 – will also be Humza Yousaf’s first electoral test since he became SNP leader, and first minister, in the spring.
