This week’s Behind the Headlines comes from political editor Xander Elliards.
8.55am
It’s the first sunny day in Glasgow in a fair while, and I am at central station about to hop a train to Paisley for the Scottish Labour conference. Except, Anas Sarwar has just been on the radio saying it is not a conference after all, but a “pre-election one-day rally”. Someone might want to have a word with the events team, who have made the silly mistake of writing “Scottish Labour conference 2026” on the handbook and lanyards.
9.10am
The train has arrived in Paisley, which is looking remarkably grand in the sunshine. I head to the Town Hall for the Labour conference-but-not-a-conference. After a quick security search, I’m allowed inside – but soon told there is no media room to work in (usually a standard fixture of these political events). I have some emails to send, so head back outside to work on a bench in the square. Five minutes later I’m back being searched by security. “You just searched me and then saw me the entire time I was sat on that bench,” I say. No dice. Rules is rules.
9.15am
Safely back inside the conference, I have 45 minutes to kill before the room in which the media will be allowed to squat (when it’s not needed) becomes available. I try to go to the main hall and work there – but am told I’ll need to check all of my things in the cloakroom. “But I need them to work?” I say. No dice. Rules is rules.
9.20am
I have wondered into the exhibition space, where charities or industry bodies will set up stalls and try to lobby politicians to get their aims on the agenda. Previously, the ones I’ve seen have been pretty large affairs in sprawling halls. Ahead of the 2024 General Election, Labour’s was packed. This time it is in a small side room, and not all of the tables have been booked. If you’re a Scottish Labour bod, that does not bode well. There is cranberry juice on offer though.
READ MORE: Holyrood election 'last and only chance' to remove SNP from power, Anas Sarwar claims
9.55am
I am outside the room the media have been told we can use from 10am. A few other journalists are also here, equally surprised at the lack of provision for us. You would expect a party to want their conference to be covered by the press – and you do need to allow space for that to happen. The doors are opened roughly on time and a small crowd filters out. They had been at one of the four fringe events of the day. That is about the slimmest pickings I have ever seen at a party conference – even a “pre-election one-day” one.
10.05am
A Scottish Labour official arrives to inform media that there will not be interviews with any Labour figures at all throughout the day. This is met with outrage, and the swift threat that the press pack will simply chase Labour ministers and MSPs through the Town Hall if they have to. Negotiations ensue. Eventually and in true Starmerite style, a U-turn is enacted. Another U-turn will follow later, so press are in fact given time with both Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. The word "shitshow" is being bandied about a fair bit.
12pm
Just under two hours have now passed in the makeshift media room. Colleagues filtering in do not fail to note the odd venue. It looks like a cinema, but one of the fancy Everyman-style ones with armchairs. It even has a big screen. The issue is it only seats about 40 people. The team hoping to hold a fringe event in the room in 30 minutes is understandably concerned that more than half of the seats are already filled with reporters.
12.05pm
News filters in that Irshad Ahmad, the former SNP and Alba man who is now top of a Labour regional list, is in the building. I head out to try and get him for a couple of questions, but see broadcasters gathering outside to speak to Douglas Alexander. I listen in with a couple of other print journalists for the full four minutes for which he speaks – and it was only pushed to that milestone after a brief delay due to a passing member of the public heckling with shouts of “Reform, Reform, Reform”. As Alexander walks away, I ask if he will have time to answer print media’s questions. He says he will after a fringe event at lunchtime (which conveniently is in that same room the media have been corralled into).
1.35pm
The fringe event passes without real incident. Labour politicians talk up Labour policies. Experts talk sense. The two rarely align. Afterwards, we have a four-question huddle with Douglas Alexander. This one lasts for five-and-a-half minutes. He is asked about the then-brand-new poll showing Labour falling to fourth in Holyrood below the Scottish Greens in May. It is an academic one with a large sample, not easily dismissed. Alexander deflects with talk about the Gorton and Denton by-election, a huge loss for Labour, which should give some idea of just how bad that poll is for the party.
2.25pm
Anas Sarwar is finally beginning his keynote conference speech. It was due to start at 2pm, but given the way the conference has been organised so far, only being 25 minutes late is quite the achievement. It opens with a punchy video tracking his last five years as Scottish Labour leader. It starts in 2021, as you’d expect, but completely misses out that year’s Holyrood election – which saw Sarwar lead Labour to its worst result in the history of devolution. At least, its worst result in the history of devolution yet.
3.25pm
An hour has passed, and Sarwar has joined us in the “media room”. He also notes the oddness of the venue, before taking a seat at the front. The 11-minute press huddle that follows will be the longest of the day. He uses it to repeat parts of his speech – notably about asking people to “hold their noses and vote Labour” – and dismiss that major poll predicting Labour to their worst result in the history of devolution yet. He also doubles down on bizarre suggestions that the May vote may be “our last” or “our only” chance to remove the SNP Government – and declines to really explain what he means. The strong suspicion is that he means it is his last chance.
3.40pm
The huddle is over. The room is filled with the clacking of keyboards as journalists rush to file their stories and leave. Much like Anas Sarwar himself had been a moment or two ago. No doubt for a rest after another stomping successful conference.
Share