Scottish Labour leader takes page out of Elon Musk playbook in major power move
Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar announced a slew of promises to Scotland as he handed in his application for Scottish First Minister in 2026.
In an hour-long speech designed to move the conversation on from the 2024 General Election, he set out his pitch for a 2026 Scottish Labour victory promising safer schools, a renewed NHS and an unexpected page out of Elon Musk’s playbook.
He told delegates he would declare a national NHS waiting times emergency and do “whatever it takes to fix the NHS,” vowing to “end the 8am rush” of calling up for doctor appointments
He told members he would “end the ideological block on new nuclear projects in Scotland” and immediately deliver business rates relief while overhauling the rates system to better work for businesses.
Some of the biggest cheers in the room came from his announcements to “scrap peak rail fares to make travel cheaper for everyone in Scotland,” eradicating homelessness and banning mobile phones in classrooms.
A Scottish Labour Government would issue guidance to schools to give them support in order to minimise distraction and end the rise in filmed classroom violence.
But the one comment that caught everyone off guard was his announced intention to “have our own ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (Doge)” – though a Labour source has since urged to focus on the work of such a department instead of a name.
Watching along with Sarwar’s speech, Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton MSP said: “He promises a new direction but Scottish Labour has been part of Holyrood’s cosy left-wing consensus that has failed Scotland for over 25 years.
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“Anas Sarwar helped Nicola Sturgeon pass her flawed gender reform bill and backed Humza Yousaf’s Hate Crime Act which showed how detached he is from the real world.
“Only the Scottish Conservatives, under Russell Findlay’s leadership, are standing up for those who just want politicians to show some common sense for a change and are holding this rotten SNP government to account.”
The first of three days at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow also heard from the Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, primed to keep the momentum of electoral success going into the 2026 Scottish General Election.
July saw Labour’s Scottish presence in Westminster catapult from just one MP – Murray in Edinburgh South – to 37, from the northern Isle of Skye to all six constituencies that make up Greater Glasgow.
But in the months since, polling shows an erosion of public confidence in both the new UK Labour Government and Scottish Labour’s ability to deviate from UK priorities to best serve the people of Scotland.
Public calls on UK Labour to restore Winter Fuel Payments and remove the two-child benefit cap went unanswered, leaving an open door for the SNP to walk right through in their 2025/26 Scottish budget.
Labour’s July election performance in Scotland suggested the 2026 Scottish Election was theirs to lose, and detractors say it’s already slipping away.
Murray told delegates he inherited a Scotland Office “solely focussed on the constitution” and has set new priorities for his department: economic growth; green energy; Brand Scotland; and tackling poverty.
“Last July, we ended 14 years of Tory sleaze, cuts and chaos,” adding, “we got rid of one of Scotland’s two rotten Governments.
“Next May, we can do it again and set Scotland on a new direction with Anas Sarwar in Bute House, and Keir Starmer in Downing Street.”
Towards the end of his speech, Murray shared the news that he had recently become a new father to a healthy 25-day-old daughter.
Through describing the unusual sequence of events over the course of his daughter’s birthday, he delivered what could well become the most quotable line of the conference.
“Just as Loïs was born at home two hours before the midwives arrived,” he said, “I’ve very literally answered the Prime Minister’s call for his cabinet to always be delivering in Labour.”
The 2025 Scottish Labour Conference at the Scottish Event Campus continues over the weekend.