Anas Sarwar reviving GP plans show Labour's flailing election hopes on life support

Almost a year ago to the day, Anas Sarwar announced plans to “end the 8am rush” for GP appointments - but with time running out to resuscitate his chances of becoming first minister, does resurrecting those plans with little extra detail show Scottish Labour is running out of steam?

It was a key pledge of Scottish Labour’s spring conference last year. It sounded like a winner. The frustration of calling up a GP surgery bright and early in the vain hope of being able to see a doctor is a real issue that will strike a chord with the public.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is running out of time to turn his fortunes around | getty

But despite Mr Sarwar using a press conference in Clydebank on Tuesday to insist the issue is a “dividing line” between Labour and the SNP, both he and John Swinney have made the same vow to end the 8am rush.

Mr Sarwar’s plans, which don’t appear to have developed significantly, if at all, since announcing them 12 months ago, would centre around renegotiating GP contracts with the BMA - something the union agreed a new framework with the SNP government on in October that unlocked extra funding for recruitment and retention.

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Labour have pledged to unpick that agreement less than 12 months after it being agreed, if they pull off victory in May. The party’s argument is that while SNP ministers have made promises to finally act, they cannot be trusted to follow through on commitments almost 20 years since taking office.

Scottish Labour insiders admit the election is still being framed by Westminster - not helped by their party leader calling for the Prime Minister to be given his jotters last week.

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But those close to Mr Sarwar are adamant that when the short campaign gets under way, with a focus on devolved issues Labour believe they have a better handle than the SNP on, those voters who were happy to support Labour in Scotland in the 2024 general election, will be persuaded to do so again to remove the SNP.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. PIC: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images | AFP via Getty Images

It has been a bruising few weeks for Scottish Labour. Amid Mr Sarwar trying to oust Sir Keir Starmer from office, the PM has tussled with a genuine scandal around Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein anyone could have seen coming, while the handling of outgoing Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy’s association with convicted sex offender Sean Morton has been a mess.

READ MORE: Revealed: How Scottish Labour hopes it can turn tables on SNP and snatch power in Holyrood election

The latest fiasco to swamp the party is allegations the Labour Together think tank paid a company to spy on journalists. It’s estimated that around £100,000 was donated from the think tank to Scottish Labour candidates and organisations during the 2024 general election campaign.

For months and months, Mr Sarwar, with good reason, has highlighted apparent NHS failings at FMQs. But there is a lack of evidence that Labour’s persistence on the NHS is moving the dial with voters - many who have come to terms with a post-pandemic health service that simply doesn’t work as it did this time six years ago.

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Mr Sarwar told me that he was being “straight and serious” that his party “can win” May’s election, insisting that he can “defy the odds again” after being asked if it was time to admit he cannot challenge Mr Swinney to become the next first minister.

But it is clear that time is running out for Mr Sarwar and Scottish Labour to set out some detailed and ambitious plans to finally convince voters or face the reality of falling short in removing the SNP.