Anas Sarwar reacts to 'disappointing result' for Labour

The party failed to make the impact he had hoped for in the election and his ambition of becoming first minister failed to materialise.

Arriving a the Glasgow count, Sarwar said: “This is a really disappointing result for us as a Scottish Labour Party.

“We argued the case for change, made the argument for change but ultimately it’s an argument we lost.”

He thanked the activists and campaigners.

He was asked if he blamed he Prime Minister and he replied: “ I have tried to make this election about Scotland. I said what I said in February and I stand by that but I’m going to focus on what this means for Scotland.”

He added: “We advocated for change and made the argument for change.

“The tragedy of this election campaign is that despite all the arguments we wanted to make about the health service, the future of our schools, about tackling homelessness, building homes having a government that works, sadly it seems that that’s not what the election became about.

“It became about a national mood and a national dissatisfaction and that was a mood that sadly we were not able to overcome.”

He added: "I’m of course disappointed that we are going to see Reform MSPS elected.

"But let me make a broader point. I’m sick of politicians who want to use people’s legitimate concerns to divide this great country.

“And sadly, it seems, that those who seek to divide us and use people’s frustrations to divide us  are going to win the day.

"But ultimately I still believe that the politics of unity and change will win this country and look forward to being a part of that.”