Labour’s Holyrood collapse exposed a deeper failure to reconnect with Scotland’s working-class communities, leaving political outsiders to exploit anger, neglect and disillusionment long ignored by the mainstream, writes Kevin McKenna

Lying discarded at my door among the Pizza delivery leaflets and local cleaning circulars is a mountain of election flyers that could choke a horse. There must be a PhD thesis out there somewhere on the culture and history of these handbills, which reduce written English to its most desolate form.

In recent years, a new trend has been evident in their messaging. Rather than highlight the policies – both local and national – that address voters’ most pressing concerns, most of those landing at my door are focused on stopping the other lot.

The flyer for my local Labour candidate was a dismal effort drawing from the trite, empty lexicon of modern political discourse.

They wanted “to be part of delivering the change Scotland needs” and to “build a better future”. And then, bringing these two aspirations together in a final resounding paragraph, they vowed to “deliver that change and get a better future”.

In a 300-word tract devoid of personality, purpose and any reference to a specific local issue, the SNP got seven mentions to Labour’s three. It was a depressing little precis which epitomised Scottish Labour’s national campaign in the 2026 Holyrood election.

Some party activists have already begun to examine the corpse of what passed for Labour’s strategy.

They spoke of an ill-judged “38-seat approach” and of choosing not to devote resources to the second votes on the regional list.

But when you’ve been scudded 7-0 in your own backyard for the fifth game in succession, you don’t start wondering if you should have played with a flat back four rather than go with three centre-halves. You need to be........

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