Why the Scottish vote matters to Starmer and Sunak

Given the state of the SNP and the economy, the question of independence will be less important than that of party credibility

• UK politics live – latest updates

When Keir Starmer helped to launch Labour’s Scottish election campaign, he told effusive supporters in Glasgow: “There’s no change without Scotland, no Labour without Scotland … Scotland is central to the mission of the next Labour government.”

Speaking to reporters afterwards, the party leader emphasised that the raw mathematics were just one reason why Scotland would play such an important role in this election. “Yes, it’s about the numbers,” he said. “We lost very badly in 2019, and we’ve got to get every single seat that we can possibly win … But this is also personal … I want to be the prime minister for the whole of the United Kingdom, and that includes Scotland.”