SNP minister Mairi McAllan insists party does not take its 'support for granted' after Rutherglen defeat

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An SNP minister has insisted the party does not take its support for granted after it suffered a heavy defeat to Labour at the Rutherglen by-election.

Mairi McAllan said today the Nationalists would reflect on the reasons for its defeat in the South Lanarkshire constituency, which saw Labour's Michael Shanks achieve almost 60 per cent of the vote.The Net Zero Secretary added the Rutherglen campaign had been fought in "exceptional circumstances" after the area's former SNP MP was removed from office via a recall petition.Margaret Ferrier repeatedly refused to resign her seat after being found to have broken strict lockdown travel rules in 2020.McAllan said: "I understand that, as a party, we have to think very carefully about what (the by-election loss) says to us."We are not a party who ever take our success or our support from the people of Scotland for granted."We’re in the very early aftermath of it, but I can guarantee everybody that the SNP will think very carefully about that and about how we regroup and re-emerge from it."Labour achieved a 20.4 per cent swing from the SNP at the by-election last week.If the party could replicate such a result at a general election next year, polling experts have suggested it could win up to 40 seats in Scotland.SNP MSP Michelle Thomson last weekend claimed the defeat in Rutherglen should be used as an opportunity for the party to reassess its powersharing deal with the Greens at Holyrood.Asked if the party needed to ditch the deal with the Greens, Thomson said: "It's a good question."I would hope as a part of a review, a fresh look is made at the arrangement with the Greens.