Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said he pushes Sir Keir Starmer to be more “extroverted” when he comes to Scotland.
Mr Sarwar said he speaks to the Prime Minister every two or three weeks, often calling at weekends when they both have more free time.
The Scottish Labour leader also said he will not engage in any “back room stitch-ups” with other parties if he becomes first minister following the Scottish election next year.
At an Edinburgh Fringe event in front of a live audience, Mr Sarwar was interviewed by Catherine Salmond, editor of The Herald.
He was pressed on his relationship with the UK Labour leader and whether Sir Keir was comfortable coming north of the border.
He said: “We’re different personalities… I am much more probably conversational, out there, a bit of an extrovert.
“I think it’s safe to say he’s a bit more introverted in that sense.”
Mr Sarwar said Sir Keir had become more relaxed and confident in the five years since becoming Labour leader.
He said Sir Keir was more relaxed in Scotland than in other parts of the UK, adding: “I think we’ve built up a rapport, probably because I am pushing to be a bit more of extroverted than perhaps he is in other parts.”
He said he spoke to the Prime Minister around “two or three times a month”.
However he said the early part of Labour’s response to the war in Gaza had been “challenging” for his party, referring to an interview the Prime Minister gave where he said Israel had the “right” to withhold power and water from Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.
“I think the early part was challenging, he himself accepts that what he said in the LBC interview wasn’t right,” Mr Sarwar said.
Discussing the Middle East further, he said: “I think we have to be doing much more to hold the Israeli government to account.
“To provide evidence that there is not any components that are being used in a proactive way in Gaza.”
Looking ahead to the 2026 Scottish election, Mr Sarwar said he was putting his “heart, soul energy, time” into winning.
He said it would be a “very close election” likely to result in a “parliament of minorities”.
Rather than doing deals such as the SNP-Green powersharing agreement, he said he would “work progressively with the parliament” if he became first minister.
He said: “We are looking to form a minority Scottish Labour government that does no kind of back room stich-up but instead moves to govern based on what we promised.”
