Skip to main content
‘Labour are the only ones who will focus on recovery and make it our priority’
Scottish Labour candidate MERCEDES VILLALBA talks to Niall Christie about the importance of grassroots working-class politics and connecting with people’s everyday lives
STAYING FOCUSED: Mercedes Villalba on the campaign trail

“EVERYONE who is not sunning themselves on a yacht right now, we are your party.” 

A clear message to voters from Labour’s Mercedes Villalba, talking to the Star ahead of the upcoming Holyrood election. 

For the Star’s readership who may be off sailing somewhere, this interview may not be for you. But for the rest, the Scottish party and its candidate say there is only one option for socialists on the ballot come May 6. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney speaking during a press conference at Grassmarket Apex Hotel, Edinburgh, following the 2026 Holyrood elections, May 9, 2026
Features / 11 May 2026
11 May 2026

The new Scottish Parliament looks set to continue a cycle of managerial tinkering while public services face the axe, writes STEPHEN LOW

THE GREAT ILLUSIONIST: Scotland First Minister John Swinney (centre) with assorted worthies at Wheatley Housing Development in Wallyford, East Lothian, apparently keen on accelerating housebuilding throughout Scotland, January 2026
Holyrood / 6 May 2026
6 May 2026

As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR

STANDING HER GROUND: Welsh Labour Party MP Beth Winter (first from right front, when Welsh Labour Party MP) and Labour MP for Liverpool, Riverside, Kim Johnson (to her left) on the picket line outside the office of HM Treasury, in Westminster in February 2023
Interview / 6 May 2026
6 May 2026

David Nicholson spoke to BETH WINTER about her bid to become a Senedd member as an independent running on a community grassroots campaign

Former Labour Party leader and now Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn joins a march in central London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, July 6, 2024
Opinion / 10 July 2025
10 July 2025

VINCE MILLS cautions over the perils and pitfalls of ‘a new left party’