ANAS Sarwar has said he will actively campaign for people to sign a recall petition to get rid of Margaret Ferrier as an MP.
Ferrier – who now sits as an independent after losing the SNP whip - is facing a 30-day ban from the House of Commons after breaking Covid rules by travelling on a train in the knowledge she had the virus.
If she is suspended – a Standards Committee recommendation MPs will have to vote on – it will trigger a recall petition where constituents in Rutherglen and Hamilton West will be asked if they want to remove Ferrier as their Westminster representative.
If 10% of the electorate vote to remove her, a by-election will be held.
The National went out and spoke to residents across the constituency this week to find out if they would sign a recall petition.
Labour will be licking their lips at the prospect of people visiting the ballot box given Ferrier snatched the seat from them in 2019.
And they were spotted in the area on Thursday morning attempting to their message out to voters.
It could still be months before any by-election takes place unless Ferrier decides to stand down, given that any recall petition will run for six weeks.
Sarwar said people in the seat were “very angry” with Ferrier, adding he would be “fully engaged and fully active in any recall petition.”
The SNP has also committed to registering as a campaigner in favour of the recall, but Sarwar said he had doubts about how committed the party will be.
He said: “There's one thing registering and one thing being a participant. It'd be interesting to see if they’re an active participant trying to get those signatures across the constituency.
“I imagine they're not very keen on a by-election. How times have changed. Labour now looks forward to elections, rather than fears them.”
Ferrier won with a majority of 5230 in 2019 and Labour sees the seat as a top target ahead of the next General Election.
Sarwar added: “Look, I'm going to throw everything at it and we're going to put all our energy into it, not be complacent. But am I eager to get out there and try to win the argument?
"Of course, I am. Because this country is desperate for change. This constituency is desperate for change. And Labour has to demonstrate that we are that change.”
Ferrier spoke in Parliament in September 2020 while awaiting the results of a Covid test.
She then took the train home to Glasgow after being told she had tested positive.
She pleaded guilty to breaching Covid rules last year and was handed 270 hours of community service as a direct alternative to custody.
