In Scotland, zero-hour contracts have hit record highs, with many people under employed with contracts averaging just 18.4 hours a week – far less than the stability needed to build a secure life.

Tracy Gilbert is the Labour MP for Edinburgh North & Leith 

When I stood on doorsteps in Edinburgh North and Leith during the General Election campaign, voters told me one thing loud and clear: they wanted change. Too many people are juggling multiple jobs, struggling to balance family and work life, and being trapped in insecure work, which had become the norm. Their stories highlighted lives defined by uncertainty and instability. Labour’s New Deal for Working People gave them a sense of optimism and something tangible to believe in.

In Scotland, zero-hour contracts have hit record highs, with many people under employed with contracts averaging just 18.4 hours a week – far less than the stability needed to build a secure life. Labour’s promise to ban these exploitative contracts resonated deeply and will help approximately 71,000 workers in Scotland achieve secure and stable work. Coupled with a pledge to deliver a genuine living wage for 200,000 of Scotland’s lowest-paid workers, the New Deal became the Swiss army knife of our campaign: adaptable, practical, and rooted in the realities of voters’ lives.

Its bold policies – from day-one rights to sick pay and parental leave to ending fire-and-rehire – went beyond traditional party loyalties and cut through the noise of recent divisive constitutional debates. The New Deal wasn’t just a promise on paper; it was Labour’s vision for change and the centre of our campaign in Edinburgh North and Leith and across Scotland.

But trust, once earned, must be matched by delivery. The upcoming local elections next year and 2026 Parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales will be a referendum on how well Labour has lived up to our promises. The introduction of the Employment Rights Bill – the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation – is a vital first step. This legislation begins to address the root causes of job insecurity and low pay, with protections from unfair dismissal, statutory sick pay from day one, and the creation of a Fair Work Agency.

For retail and hospitality workers, it means an end to exploitative zero-hour contracts. For care workers, it means the fair pay they deserve. For parents and carers, it means flexible working rights that make family life more manageable. These aren’t abstract reforms – they are tangible changes that, when implemented, will transform lives and rebuild trust with voters.

Polling shows overwhelming support for Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, with 70% of managers backing a living wage, 66% supporting day-one rights like sick pay and unfair dismissal protection and 64% agreeing that banning zero-hours contracts will benefit businesses. Across the UK, a majority of voters in every constituency  back stronger workers’ rights, reflecting a clear mandate to push forward. This broad appeal strengthens the case to resist those who seek to water down or delay these much needed reforms.

The New Deal wasn’t just a campaign promise – it was a contract with voters. Now, Labour faces the challenge of delivering results that make a lasting difference. By turning pledges into action and action into trust, Labour can keep winning, undo decades of Tory and SNP chaos, and build a transformative legacy for working people across the UK. When working people thrive, Scotland thrives – and so does the rest of the country.

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