26APR

Sarwar wins NHS round; Compston backs SNP

1 min read

13:33UTC

The BBC Holyrood debate from Paisley produced what The Times called a slam-dunk on the NHS for Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar against John Swinney; actor Martin Compston urged voters on Thursday 23 April to back the SNP to keep Farage out of Scotland.

← Back to 11 Days to Go: Six-of-six, RPA dies, Welsh lead flips Jump to analysis ↓

PoliticsDeveloping

Key takeaway

Labour squeezes the SNP on NHS; Compston squeezes back to keep Reform out of Scotland.

The BBC Scotland Holyrood debate from Paisley produced what The Times described as "a slam-dunk victory on the NHS" for Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar against First Minister John Swinney ¹. Sarwar declined to answer what mechanism would need to be in place for a second independence referendum to be granted. Scottish Labour analysis claims the party is the "best choice to stop SNP" in two-thirds of Scottish constituencies, framing the campaign as a tactical squeeze rather than a contest for first place.

Actor Martin Compston, of Line of Duty, urged voters on Thursday 23 April to back the SNP "to keep Farage out of Scotland", targeting Reform UK's projected 20-22 Holyrood seats . STV will host the next Scottish leaders debate from Edinburgh's Signet Library on Tuesday 28 April, moderated by Colin Mackay. The two appeals run in opposite directions on the centre-left vote: Labour's tactical-squeeze pitch presses second-preference voters away from the SNP, while Compston's appeal pulls them back.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Scotland is also holding a Parliament (Holyrood) election on 7 May. BBC Scotland held a leaders debate in Paisley, west of Glasgow, with all the major party leaders. Anas Sarwar, who leads Scottish Labour, pressed John Swinney (the SNP leader and First Minister) hard on NHS waiting times in Scotland. Multiple commentators, including The Times, described Sarwar as having clearly won the NHS exchange. Around the same time, actor Martin Compston , best known for the TV drama Line of Duty, filmed in Scotland , posted a video urging people to vote SNP. His argument was that the SNP, as the likely biggest party, was the best defence against Reform UK winning regional list seats in Scotland. This created an interesting split: Sarwar wants voters to switch from the SNP to Labour; Compston wants them to stick with the SNP. Both were targeting the same audience of voters who dislike Reform UK, but pushing them in opposite directions. A second Scottish leaders debate is scheduled on STV on 28 April, presenting Swinney with an opportunity to respond before polling day.

Sources:ITV News

Mentions:John Swinney →Scottish Labour →STV →Nigel Farage →Holyrood →Parliament →Reform UK →Time →Glasgow →Scottish National Party (SNP) →BBC Scotland →Anas Sarwar →Martin Compston →Colin Mackay →

First Reported In

Update #5 · 11 Days to Go: Six-of-six, RPA dies, Welsh lead flips

ITV News· 26 Apr 2026

Read original →

Different Perspectives

Local Government Association

New chair Eamonn O'Brien broke the LGA's neutrality on reorganisation for the first time since December 2024, telling the incoming prime minister the 'unprecedented scale' of disaggregation risks statutory services and asking him to adjust the LGR timetable, aligning the sector's institutional voice with the judicial review claims Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk have already filed.

Reform UK

Reform's £12m Harborne windfall from 2025 predates the 25 March retrospective crypto-donation ban, so the new law does not reach it; a live police probe into £500,000 of Cottrell donations continues, while the standards inquiry into Harborne's undeclared £5m gift is frozen since Farage vacated Clacton on 8 July.

Incoming Burnham government

Burnham secured 349 of the backing the NEC's 81-MP threshold required by 13 July, becoming Labour leader on 17 July and prime minister on 20 July without a members' ballot. He now inherits the LGR timetable the LGA wants him to adjust and a finance bill his own backbencher, Liam Byrne, is trying to harden further via amendment NC34.

Rupert Lowe / Restore Britain

Lowe called Farage's Clacton contest a 'Reform-sponsored media circus' and kept Restore Britain out of it, pledging instead to stand in the second by-election he expects the Harborne inquiry to force later this year. The boycott doubles as a signal that Restore Britain, not Reform, will contest the 'real' vote.

Kemi Badenoch / Conservative Party

Badenoch dismissed Farage's Clacton contest as a 'fake by-election' and joined the boycott, but reserved the right to fight a genuine second contest if Greenberg's inquiry forces one. The Conservatives are betting their real fight comes in autumn, not July.

Rhun ap Iorwerth / Plaid Cymru

Ap Iorwerth defended a £145m NHS allocation at First Minister's Questions on 1 July, blaming a graduate-nurse shortfall on 2022 training decisions taken before his Plaid-led government took office in May. Answering for choices his government did not make gives his new administration its first real accountability test.