Exclusive:Scottish Labour minister Michael Shanks refuses to say if Holyrood election loss means Keir Starmer should go

Michael Shanks said he “won’t be drawn” on any scenario other than a Scottish Labour victory next year as he claimed the SNP had “underestimated Anas Sarwar”.

It comes after a torrid few weeks for the Prime Minister that has resulted in his own MPs questioning whether Sir Keir should take the country forward.

When asked if the Prime Minister should lose his job if Labour fails to win next year, energy minister Mr Shanks told The Scotsman: “Time and time again, the SNP have said that Scottish Labour doesn't have a chance of winning.

“We won in the Hamilton by-election when they said that this was a straight choice between the SNP and Reform. They've been wrong time and time again, and they've underestimated Anas Sarwar.

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“And they've also underestimated, I think, just how much the public are hurting under a legacy that's had one in six Scots on a waiting list, that's had education standards falling, that's had crime levels increasing in communities.

“These are all a failure of almost two decades of SNP Government. Scotland wants a new direction, and the only person that can deliver that is Anas Sarwar as a future first minister.”

Labour is polling well behind the SNP ahead of the Scottish Parliament election in spring.

When asked if Scottish Labour leader Mr Sarwar not becoming first minister would reflect badly on the UK government, the Rutherglen MP replied: “Well I think he will do it, and I'm not going to be drawn on any other scenarios.

“Because the truth of this is, there's a straight choice in May of next year.

“We either enter a third decade with John Swinney at the helm, having been around the Cabinet table for most of those past 18 years, and carry on in the same path we've been on, or we chart a new course, one where we co-operate with the UK government and we work together to unlock Scotland's potential.

“And that can only happen with a change of leadership and Anas Sarwar is the only person that can offer that change.”

Mr Shanks also said UK government ministers would be visiting Scotland as part of the campaign.

He said: “I’m never out of Scotland, so you’ll be seeing lots of me and the nine Scottish MPs that are now at the heart of this Labour government.

“But you’ll also see other members of government as well, because we need to talk up the work that this UK government is doing to deliver change across the country, and much of that affects Scotland as well.

“When we think about the national minimum wage increasing, that's improved the lives of tens of of thousands of Scots. We'll see UK government ministers come in Scotland to talk about that.

“But this is a Scottish election, so more than any of that, you'll see Anas Sarwar and his team outlining what a Scottish Labour government would do in Scotland.”