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Sarwar sets his sights on 2026 Holyrood race after party's stunning gains

- CHRIS MCCALL

ANAS Sarwar has set his sights on becoming first minister in 2026 after he led Scottish Labour to its best general election result in 14 years.

His party returned 37 MPs in Scotland on a night that saw SNP support crumble across the country. The Nationalists were left with just nine seats on Friday with one constituency still to declare.

It is the first time Labour has finished ahead of the SNP in terms of seats won at an election in Scotland since 2010.

Sarwar told the Record the achievement was "absolutely incredible" and was the result of three years of hard work to convince Scots that his party had changed.

The Scottish Labour leader pointed to his party's dismal night at the last general election in 2019, when it won just a single MP, as proof of its transformation in recent years.

But Sarwar was more keen to look to the future and his aim of completing a "twoANAS S stage process" that would lead to Labour being in power at both Westminster and Holyrood.

The SNP has led the Scottish Government since 2007 but Labour is growing increasingly confident it will have a strong chance to snatch power at the next Holyrood poll in two years' time.