Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has vowed he would not “do any sort of deal or co-operation” with Nigel Farage after losing the Hamilton by-election.

Scottish Labour took the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat in South Lanarkshire from the SNP but Mr Farage’s Reform UK party also made gains in the Scottish Parliament ballot on Thursday.

Speaking on the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News, SNP leader Mr Swinney said that if it was necessary to form a coalition to keep Reform out of government, he would “pursue the policy priorities of my party”, and pledged never to work with Clacton MP Mr Farage.

The First Minister said he intended to win the 2026 Holyrood election, adding his party would “get stronger” after losing the Hamilton seat, which it

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