ANAS Sarwar has refused to say Keir Starmer is responsible for Labour's local election losses in England.

With 131 out of 143 English councils declared, Labour were down 247 seats today, while the Tories were up by 290.

That includes Durham Council, which was the first county hall to go red in 1919 and had been under Labour control since 1925.

But Labour lost 16 seats on the council in Thursday's local elections - its worst loss on any council in England so far.

Asked if Starmer was to blame for the loss, Sarwar told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I don’t think you can scapegoat anybody, I don’t think anyone is saying one person is to blame, it is a collective effort, and we have all got to collectively pull this Labour Party together.”

Sarwar was also questioned about Starmer's controversial decision to sack his deputy Angela Rayner from her role as party chair and national campaign co-ordinator.

Sarwar said that his “understanding is that Angela Rayner is going to take a different position in the shadow cabinet”.

He said: “She has been a fantastic deputy leader, I am proud she is deputy leader of our UK party.”

Asked directly if she had been promoted or demoted Sarwar said: “I am not in charge of who promotes who on what in Westminster, I am in charge of the party here in Scotland.”

It comes as Sarwar pledged to form a “credible alternative” to the SNP in the next five years, despite the party’s worst performance north of the Border since devolution.

The party returned 22 MSPs, down from 24 in 2016, but the head of the party – himself only in post for 10 weeks – managed to counter polls which had them falling even further.

When he took over, Sarwar was facing down poll numbers as low as 14%, with some considering the Scottish Greens as a possibility for third place at the expense of Labour.

Sarwar insisted in the closing weeks of the campaign he was not running to be first minister in this election, but would have his eyes on Bute House in 2026.

As the final results came in, he said: “We’re on a journey to build a credible alternative to the SNP.

“Not just oppose the SNP, but to build a credible alternative. And that job doesn’t stop with this election campaign.

“I think even my harshest critics would accept we have run an energetic and enthusiastic campaign, we got Labour back on the pitch.

“That is something for us to build on for the next five years.”

One Labour candidate also made history, as Pam Duncan-Glancy became the first permanent wheelchair user to be elected to Holyrood.

Former Labour MP Paul Sweeney also took a seat at Holyrood on the Glasgow list along with Duncan-Glancy.