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“WE will reject Reform and beat the SNP… I’m ready to win,” Anas Sarwar told a crowd of students at a Labour conference event and late night DJ set in Liverpool.
The Scottish Labour leader then played Survivor’s Eye of The Tiger before dancing and (awkwardly) shadowboxing with his top aide Kate Watson as well as Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee.
Between the jingoistic flagwaving during Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s keynote speech earlier in the day and now this scene – it all felt a bit like a bad acid trip.
It didn’t help that Sarwar – who also played “Where Is The Love” by the Black Eyes Peas – followed UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy who played several Britney Spears songs and declared at one point: “It’s Nandy b****.”
I only have myself to blame, of course. I went the year before, with the memory of Emily Thornberry grinding on Sarwar forever seared into my mind.
At least that didn’t happen.
"We're going to beat the SNP," says DJ Anas Sarwar. The rest speaks for itself 👇 pic.twitter.com/MWzhMrT6eM
— James Walker (@James_L_Walker) September 30, 2025
What was quite different about this year’s event was how much more professional and branded it seemed. Again, it was sponsored by TikTok – an organisation which was accused of union busting earlier this year by announcing hundreds of layoffs just a week before staff were due to vote on unionisation.
An odd choice for a Labour Party event then, some would argue.
Labour chief whip Jonathan Reynolds followed Sarwar. He played Mr Brightside and started jumping on stage.
I’d hit my limit and swiftly left the venue. Never again.
