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.

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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

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Different Perspectives

Ian Davidson, Acting Returning Officer for Clacton

Davidson's office printed a 90cm ballot paper for the record 34-candidate field, with nothing in electoral law capping candidate numbers or the £500 deposit each pays. He expects the paper's size to raise printing costs and slow the count into the early hours, a strain that follows from the major parties' boycott, not from turnout.

Scottish Labour members

Members now choose between Michael Marra and Joe Fagan after Monica Lennon fell one MP nomination short of the three-MP, three-MSP threshold, a bar set by MPs and union officials rather than the wider membership. Whoever wins takes office having faced only one rival on the members' ballot.

Labour Party

Labour gained Penistone East from Reform on 20 August but lost Harraby South to Reform the same night, a wash that undercuts any claim of momentum. The party can point to beating Reform in a genuinely fought contest, but not to a pattern running only in its favour.

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats took two of Reform's May wards, Almondbury on 13 August and St Neots Eynesbury on 20 August, the latter on a 29.8-point rise in their own vote share. Both results let the party claim it is the beneficiary when voters turn against Reform, not Labour or the Conservatives.

Reform UK

Reform UK can point to winning Clacton unopposed by the other major parties and to taking Harraby South from Labour, a ward it had never previously contested. That gives the party two results to cite even as three previously held wards changed hands elsewhere in August.

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd ruled out a Stormont walkout on 11 August despite calling the DUP increasingly difficult to work with, closing a question Conor Murphy had left open a fortnight earlier. Only Sinn Féin or the DUP can collapse the joint First Minister office, so the denial gives up the party's own leverage in budget talks.