According to an exclusive report by Daily Record political editor Paul Hutcheon, Kenneth Duffy has stated that his party should become independent for upcoming Holyrood elections.
Duffy is identified as a senior Scottish Labour councillor and provost of North Lanarkshire. He said the move was necessary because Anas Sarwar's party suffered its fifth consecutive defeat against the SNP in May. According to Hutcheon, Duffy stated that "Scottish Labour had to free itself from the 'ceaseless loop of performative drama and London centric point scoring'." The article describes this stance as backing independent parties to escape Westminster's "'Netflix-style' politics".
Duffy said Scottish Labour had to break the "electoral link" with the UK party for Holyrood elections. The report attributes these comments directly to Duffy in an interview conducted by Hutcheon. The Daily Record published this story on June 22, 2026. No other parties or individuals provided responses regarding Duffy's statement within the available source context.