Jackie became emotional as she told party candidates and activists that ‘every seat matters and every vote matters’
by Andrew J Quinn
Westminster Correspondent
The deputy Scottish Labour leader became emotional as she told party candidates and activists that ‘every seat matters and every vote matters’
Dumbarton constituency candidate Jackie Baillie held back the tears as she urged voters to back Labour at its eve of poll rally in Glasgow.
She became emotional as she told party candidates and activists that “every seat matters and every vote matters.”
This comes as the polls have suggested that Labour is far behind the SNP and could come third in terms of seats.
Some surveys have also suggested that the SNP could win Ms Baillie’s Dumbarton seat, which she has held since the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999.
Speaking onstage at Adelaide Place Baptist Church in Glasgow city centre, Ms Baillie could be seen tearing up as she said: “And now it comes down to tomorrow.
“Tomorrow, every conversation matters. Tomorrow, every vote matters, and tomorrow every seat matters.”
The crowd cheered as Ms Baillie was visibly upset.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander then said, “Jackie speaks for all of us. Because it’s that big and for us it’s that deep.”
The pair had been introducing Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who received a big standing ovation from the crowd.
He repeated nine times his appeal for the public to “reject Reform, beat the SNP, change Scotland and vote Scottish Labour”.
He also repeated eight times that “you have given John Swinney and the SNP 20 years, give me five”.
His pitch focused on fixing education, the NHS, policing, building more houses, abolishing business rates, mending potholes and the ferry fiasco.
Mr Sarwar also hit out at the SNP and Reform for trying to “separate Scot from Scot.”
He said: “I speak directly to my fellow Scots. Whether you’re undecided, whether you’re scunnered and don’t want to bother to vote, or whether you’re so angry that you want to send a message.
“I say directly to the people of this country: You had for 20 years, politicians who want to separate Scot from Scot, and now you’ve got a new set of politicians, well, they’re for the same old set, but they’re pretending to be the new set of politicians, wanting to divide Scot from Scot.
“My job in this campaign, and my job if you give me the honour of being first minister, will not be to divide Scot from Scot, but to unite this country for change.”
A YouGov poll, which came out earlier on Wednesday, suggested that his party would only win 17 seats, behind the SNP on 62 and Reform on 19.
But an Ipsos poll, which also came out on Wednesday, was slightly more promising for Labour.
It put the SNP on 35 per cent of the constituency vote, with Labour well behind on 20 per cent and Reform on 18 per cent. The SNP was down four points, with Labour up three and Reform up three.
The poll also suggested that 25 per cent of voters may change their minds.
When asked by The Scotsman how many seats Labour would need to win to keep him in a job, Mr Sarwar said: “We are competitive in 38 constituencies.
“Of course, the more seats we win, the more chance we have of forming the government and changing this country.
“So with those 38 constituencies in particular, you have to vote Scottish Labour, and that’s the argument we’ll continue to make over the next 24 hours.”
When asked if he would lead Scottish Labour for the full term of the next parliament, he said: “I look forward to leading Scottish Labour and leading the Scottish Government and transforming this great country for the next five years.”
He also said he was “going to prove the pollsters, the commentators and the pundits wrong for maybe the fourth or fifth time in a row.