Victoria Stratford is a student at the University of Essex due to graduate in 2025.
This year’s general election had significant changes for Scotland. The SNP’s seismic post-independence referendum lead was largely reversed as Labour gained control and became the largest party in Scotland for the first time since 2010.
The new Labour government has the potential to cause some disturbance and frustration to the Scots as Labour have made their stance on a second referendum very clear – there won’t be one. Now the SNP has lost its majority in Scotland, an independence referendum is increasingly unlikely, but this could still cause some discontent from the Scottish people who are certain they want an independent Scotland.
A potential concern for the Scots is Labour not paying enough attention to Scottish people. If the UK government appears to be downplaying Scottish issues and focusing too broadly on the UK as a whole, it could exacerbate feelings of disenfranchisement in Scotland which could deepen divisions between Scotland and the rest of the UK making them even more focused on Scottish independence.
The Scots also feel that Starmer and Labour are out of touch and do not have an understanding of the issues that the country faces. Six in ten Scots (61 per cent) of Scots hold the view that Starmer and his wider team have little to no understanding of the issues facing Scotland.
However, going into the new term under a UK Labour government will mean that Scottish voters will not be comparing Labour to the previous Conservative government, but the SNP who were at Holyrood. Only one in five Scots (20 per cent), including only four in ten Labour voters (39 per cent), believe that Starmer and his administration Scottish issues better than John Swinney and the SNP which ties to how 35 per cent of the Scottish public believe that Westminster has a weaker understanding of Scottish problems compared to its Holyrood counterpart.
With the new UK government being formed from the Labour Party, there is the potential for there to be ideological and policy conflicts with the Scottish Labour Party which create internal divisions within the party and weaken Labour’s ability to govern Scotland effectively.
Going forward, it is vital that the Labour government consider the rural and agricultural industries in Scotland. Typically, Labour’s policies focus on urban and industrial regions which could leave Scotland’s rural communities behind. It will also be important to see how the new government handle fishing and farming post Brexit. Labour will have to be careful not to isolate the farming and fishing communities when negotiating trade deals going forward.
Labour also brings the prospect of economic uncertainty to Scotland. If Labour’s broader economic policies lead instability or uncertainty, this will negatively impact Scotland’s economy as if businesses perceive Labour’s economic approach as unfriendly to innovation or investment it could lead to reduced economic growth or stagnation.
However, Keir Starmer said after his party were elected into government that one of his priorities is to reset the relationship between the Scottish and UK governments. Scotland’s First Minister Swinney agreed that the relationship between the UK government and the devolved Scottish government was important and that he hoped to see the relationship improve in the coming months and years. This came days after the Labour Party took 37 out of Scotland’s 57 MP’s – up from just one in 2019. The SNP’s tally fell by 39, leaving them with just nine MP’s at Westminster.
In the upcoming months and years of the UK Labour government, it will be important to view the impacts that the decisions made in Westminster have in Scotland. There are significant negative impacts that the UK government could have on Scotland by disenfranchising the Scottish people and not focusing on their needs.
Starmer will be trying to balance the needs of the Scottish people with UK-wide policy. The impact that the new government will have Scotland will only be able to be fully assessed once the public see how Starmer balances his commitments to the UK as a whole with the political and economic realities in Scotland.
