Jeremy Corbyn pledges to stand with Scottish Labour after election losses

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has admitted the party has “a lot of building to do” in Scotland after the party suffered losses which saw it pushed into a humiliating third place behind the Conservatives.

Published 6th May 2016

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has admitted the party has “a lot of building to do” in Scotland after the party suffered losses which saw it pushed into a humiliating third place behind the Conservatives.

Mr Corbyn is facing intense criticism from within Labour ranks after the party also suffered poor results in Wales and a failed to make a significant increase in support across England.

During a visit to Sheffield, where Labour held on to a safe seat in a parliamentary by-election, he told supporters the party had “hung on” and “grew support” in council elections across England in the face of poor predictions.

Mr Corbyn pledged he would “walk hand-in-hand” with Scottish Labour to rebuild its support as he responded to the results.

“I want to send this message to our party in Scotland - well done on the campaign you fought, well done on the determination you have shown.

“There is a lot of building to do in Scotland. We are going to be with you. We are going to walk hand-in-hand with the party in Scotland to build that support up once again so that the Labour tradition in Scotland will be established once again.

“I am sure I can send a message on behalf of everybody here to our colleagues in Scotland: we are with you.”