Labour must appeal to young Scottish professionals and families in order to win an outright majority at the next election, a Labour-linked think tank says today.
Research from the Fabian Society shows Labour has been making progress in wards that are older, poorer, and more ethnically diverse, unlike the Scottish National Party ( SNP ).
But it must target aspirational youngsters who may live in the private suburbs in order to steal the SNP vote.
In total, the report titled ‘Winning Back the First Red Wall’ suggests Labour needs to win 24 constituencies at the next General Election.
Analysis suggests 17 of those seats could be won if the party is able to convince 50% of the SNP and Green voters who have put Labour as their second preference to throw their support behind the party.
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The analysis insists Labour campaigners should focus on constituencies including Hamilton and Clyde, East Lothian and Midlothian.
Katherine Sangster, of the Scottish Fabians said: “Under the leadership of Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour has arrested its decline and made significant progress in the local elections in May, taking second place from the Tories and gaining control of several councils.
“This achievement in the short space of a year should not be underestimated.
“It was not so long ago that Scottish Labour was being written off as a political force and was seen to be interminal decline.”
Ms Sangster notes Labour can only win votes from the Green Party and SNP with a broad policy platform. A “distinct vision”, as she describes it.
Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have ruled out forming a pact with the SNP at the next election.
Last week, Ms Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, told a crowd in Edinburgh a Labour government would “make the changes we need”.
When asked about the likelihood of winning seats north of the border in the next election, Ms Rayner said the party was “making progress” in Scotland.
“Respect is earned, it’s not given and I think we’ve been making progress to earn that respect,” she said.
“But I think breaking up the union is not the answer.”
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The research comes as Tory leadership candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss face a grilling from Scottish Tory members.
Rishi Sunak plans to force top Scottish civil servants to appear before the Public Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Committee at Westminster every year.
His rival Ms Truss unveiled her plans to give MSPs parliamentary privilege, which would protect them from legal ramifications based on things said while in Parliament.