Contribution
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson) on securing the debate. She is a consistent and effective advocate for Glasgow and for sport in Scotland, and her contribution in this House and elsewhere in public life has undoubtedly helped to shape the strong sporting and events culture that Glasgow rightly prides itself on today.
This debate goes to the heart of something that I have spoken about in this place before: how we use opportunity to deliver growth that is not only strong but shared. In my constituency of Glasgow North sit three of the key venues for the Glasgow Commonwealth games 2026: the OVO Hydro, the SEC Centre and the SEC Armadillo, which together form the Scottish Event Campus—a central part of Glasgow’s economic life for over 40 years. The SEC is not simply a venue; it is an essential piece of economic infrastructure for the city. It has developed into one of Europe’s leading event destinations, supporting over 5,000 jobs, generating £557 million each year for Glasgow’s economy and attracting more than 2 million visitors annually.
Major events such as the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth games are not simply important occasions; they are economic instruments that can, when embedded within a wider strategy, drive growth. Every major event hosted in Glasgow—whether it is COP26, an international aquaculture conference or a Charli XCX concert—brings with it not just visitors but investment, knowledge exchange and long-term connections. The Commonwealth games bring all that together at scale.
In this debate we are rightly focusing on the Commonwealth games, but it would be remiss of me as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for events not to highlight the consistent economic benefit of the many business events and conferences that take place in the SEC and elsewhere in the city on a regular basis. It is important that the UK Government and the Scottish Government support not only the Commonwealth games and other important sporting and cultural events, but the hugely significant business events sector.
In 2026, more than 3,000 athletes from 74 nations will come to Glasgow, with the SEC hosting the opening ceremony and the basketball, wheelchair basketball, bowls, para bowls, boxing, judo, netball, weightlifting and para powerlifting events. The fact that so much activity will take place in my constituency illustrates both the scale of the opportunity and the responsibility that comes with it. Today, Glasgow stands as one of the UK’s most important city regions, with world-class universities, advanced industries and a thriving cultural sector. However, as I have said in the House before, it is also a city still marked by inequality, where growth exists alongside deprivation and where opportunity has not been felt across all communities.
This is a key test for the 2026 games. Success cannot be judged solely by attendance figures or broadcast reach; it must instead be measured by whether the economic benefits are felt across the entire city region, particularly by those communities who have waited longest for change. That means linking the games more directly to local employment and skills, and I welcome the work that the games’ organisers have done on that. It is also important that local businesses are able to participate in supply chains, and that we invest in the necessary connectivity so that people across the region can access the opportunities created.
The reality is that economic activity in Glasgow now operates at a regional scale, with major events intersecting with transport systems, labour markets and investment decisions extending well beyond the city boundary. That is why we need a more strategic and long-term approach to major events such as Glasgow 2026—one that plans ahead, aligns activity with economic priorities and co-ordinates delivery across the region. It is also why I have consistently argued for greater devolution to the Glasgow city region. This is not about constitutional preference but about practical delivery: local people are best placed to ensure that opportunities such as the Commonwealth games translate into tangible outcomes for our communities.
In that context, Government support must go beyond the successful delivery of the event itself. It must recognise the SEC as a strategic national asset, align the games with wider priorities such as tourism, trade and investment, and support a long-term plan that builds on Glasgow’s proven strengths in hosting major events. The 2026 Commonwealth games represent the next stage in that journey: an opportunity to reinforce the city’s global reputation, drive further economic growth and, importantly, ensure that that growth is shared more widely across the city region, including by the communities I represent in Glasgow North. What matters now is that we match that opportunity with an even greater level of long-term ambition. If we do, Glasgow 2026 will be not simply a one-off great occasion, but a lasting legacy of change for the Glasgow city region.