“IT'S time for a dance party and this one is especially for the ladies,” Anas Sarwar told a crowd of students at a Labour conference event sponsored by TikTok on Tuesday night.
Stood behind the decks at a club in Liverpool, the Scottish Labour leader played TLC’S No Scrubs to cheers from the crowd (below) – sticking his tongue out then wagging his fingers, somewhat in rhythm.
BREAKING: Anas Sarwar is up on stage and dancing for a DJ set at a Labour conference party. No you're not seeing things 👀 pic.twitter.com/uGPF76brVj
— James Walker (@James_L_Walker) September 24, 2024
I first heard that Sarwar was going to be DJ-ing earlier that day in the Labour conference media room – and to expect R&B and 90s hip hop. That he did deliver – managing to at least not play the same song on a loop like Labour minister Lisa Nandy just 30 minutes earlier. Instead he next popped on ‘Where Is The Love?’ by the Black Eyes Peas – singing the lyrics whilst shuffling about.
Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk (ft. Bruno Mars) then rang out as Sarwar was joined on stage (below) by senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry for a dance off.
UPDATE: Anas Sarwar and Emily Thornberry are having a bit of a dance off. To note: I was told by a senior Labour source that Anas is considered to be Scottish Labour's best dancer ... pic.twitter.com/lsvkFC4aej
— James Walker (@James_L_Walker) September 24, 2024
The man who some say is Scotland’s first minister in waiting goes full dad dance mode – think shoulder brushes and an awkward wooden gyrating move that is giving Donald Trump (below), and was perhaps the biggest blow to dancing since RayGun.
Sorry I cannot interact with you in the comments, and cannot see anyone’s page. So here is Trump dancing instead. pic.twitter.com/UgHW9BgO4Q
— suzy (@Suzy_1776) July 1, 2023
Alas, nothing could have prepared me for what happened next – as Sarwar and Thornberry started grinding. As Conor Matchett from the Scottish Sun put it – certainly not on our Labour conference bingo card.
But it also brought the dance off, mercifully, to an end.
The crowd of young Labour members loved it - with chants of “Anas” ringing out.
After all, this Labour conference was meant to be a celebration of July’s landslide General Election victory. In that context, scenes such as these make sense.
But decisions made by this new Labour Government so far – from suspending just some arms licenses to Israel to cutting the Winter Fuel Payment to pensioners, especially as parts of Scotland hit just 3 degrees overnight – also make it feel incredibly inappropriate and tone deaf to many.
In any case, Anas Sarwar had his Michael Gove moment – and I am traumatised.
