In his first column since being re-elected, Brendan O'Hara MP thanks voters and confronts the new reality with a Labour government and few SNP members.

Firstly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the people of Helensburgh and Lomond who make up a significant part of the electorate of this vast, newly enlarged constituency, for electing me for a fourth term to be their Member of Parliament.

It is a huge honour and one which I will never take for granted. And I make no apology for repeating what I said in 2015, in 2017 and in 2019: that regardless of how you voted on July 4, I am your MP, and I promise to do my very best for people of Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, and to put the interests of my constituents ahead of anything else. 

It almost goes without saying that the result in this constituency provided a rare, but extremely welcome, ray of sunshine on what was undeniably, an extremely disappointing night for the SNP.

Given what was going on all around us, the fact that not only did we manage to buck the trend and defy the national swing, we actually won this constituency with an increased majority, making Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber the safest SNP seat in Scotland, is truly remarkable.

Of course, I understand that on July 4 people voted for change. People wanted rid of the Tories and their disastrous economic policies and their divisive social agenda.

I understand that, and I absolutely share that desire. So perhaps it wasn’t the greatest surprise then that so many folk who had voted SNP in 2019 turned to Labour to get rid of the Tories…even when theirs was an incumbent SNP MP.

I fear, however, that those whose desire for radical change drove them to putting their X next to the Labour candidate, could, even this early stage, be experiencing a hefty dose of buyer's remorse.

The incoming Labour government is planning to follow the Tories’ fiscal rules and balance the books with another hefty dose of austerity, this time by hitting poor families and by withdrawing the winter fuel allowance from pensioners.

Yet, time and again in the run up to July 4, the SNP warned that by sticking to the Tories’ plan, that there would be an £18 billion black hole in the public finances, one which could only be covered by public service cuts or tax rises.

We were right, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed as much within days of taking office.

The SNP recognises the mandate the new Labour government has in those areas reserved to Westminster, and is ready and willing to work with the new government to deliver the change voters in Scotland were promised.

But we also have a duty to stand up for the people of Scotland and to reject another dose of deeply damaging austerity being imposed on the people least able to afford it…regardless of whether that austerity comes wearing a blue rosette or a red rosette.