Today, the Prime Minister travelled north on Thursday ahead of the Scottish election, as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch also campaigned in Scotland.

The visits followed the first Scottish opinion poll of 2026, which showed Labour battling with Reform for second place at Holyrood, while John Swinney’s SNP remains on course for a fifth consecutive election victory.

Asked directly whether his position could be at risk if Labour struggles in May, Sir Keir said only that his job “is to deliver for Scotland”.

Pressed on whether he is personally putting voters off supporting Labour, the Prime Minister repeated: “My job is to deliver for Scotland.”

Speaking during a visit to Perth, Sir Keir sought to distance himself from the contest, saying the election is not about his performance or his Government at Westminster, but about “who governs Scotland”.

Labour is hoping to unseat the SNP, which has governed at Holyrood since 2007.

Sir Keir said that after 19 years of SNP rule, Scotland has a “health service where there’s too many people on the waiting list”, alongside “education and public services which are on their knees”.

He added that the UK Government had awarded “records amount of money” to Scotland at its most recent budget, questioning how it has been spent by Mr Swinney’s administration.

“I think across Scotland people are entitled to ask, ‘Where has the money gone John?,” he said.

“The election in May is not an election about who is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – it is about who should be first minister of Scotland.

“The question is what is in the best interests of Scotland? I think the best interests of Scotland is change with Anas Sarwar.”

During a visit to energy firm SSE, the Prime Minister also criticised the SNP’s “ideological” opposition to new nuclear power stations.

He said a new nuclear project would bring jobs and investment to Wales, and argued Scotland could see similar benefits if Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, becomes first minister.

“We’ve got a wall of money we want to invest in Scotland, the SNP are saying ‘no we don’t want that’,” Sir Keir said.

“If there’s a Labour government in Scotland we will be back the day after the election and we will make sure that investment is translated into good jobs in Scotland.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage, meanwhile, claimed the May election would be a “two-horse race” between his party and the SNP.

Despite Reform currently holding just one MSP, Mr Farage said growing support could deliver a surprise result. “I think we could even surprise ourselves with just how many votes we manage to garner in this election,” he said.

Speaking after naming former Tory minister Malcolm Offord as Reform’s Scottish leader, Mr Farage added: “A huge chunk of the Scottish electorate are looking for something different, they’re tired of the decline this country has seen under SNP Government.”

He said Reform would be “seen as the main opposition” to the SNP, arguing that Labour and the Conservatives have failed to challenge “much of the damage the SNP have done for Scotland”.