Newington's Evan Williams considers what Kezia Dugdale's resignation as Scottish Labour leader means for the future of the Labour Party.
Is it déjà vu all over again for Labour Supporters in Scotland as another leadership election takes place as following the resignation of Kezia Dugdale last week? As well triggering an inward looking contest her resignation hands the swing vote on Labour’s National Executive Committee to her more left leaning Deputy, Alex Rowley.
You can tell the factional infighting is about to start when all sides are calling for unity. The truth is they know it is all about to kick off and are in a desperate scramble for the moral high ground. There is none. The Labour Party like all political parties is a broad church. This is just as true in Scotland as it is everywhere else in the UK. That means there are at least two ends to the spectrum of opinion within any party.
At the risk of sounding like a second rate stand-up comedian; “In Scotland, Labour has no Momentum and no Progress.” Momentum, the fringe organisation that sprung up around the campaigns of Jeremy Corbyn for leader is largely absent from Scotland, although there is a Corbyn supporting ‘Campaign for Socialism’ which has a longer history of fringe organisation in Scotland that largely fulfils the same role. Progress, the more centre left grouping, is also hardly in evidence in Scotland. That doesn’t stop there being two broad camps around which party members self-identify and from which the two candidates so far declared draw their core support.
But who are these candidates?
Richard Leonard MSP (Central Scotland), who declared first over the weekend, is very well known and liked within the party. He served as chair of the Scottish Labour Party and as a senior officer of the GMB union before being elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016.
Richard will draw a core support from what might be thought of as the left of the party, and he is avowedly of the left, but he is no kind of tribal politician. He is a gentleman with a deserved reputation for thoughtful analysis and more than a little facility as a public speaker. On Friday evening his odds (on Ladbrokes) were 6/4 and by mid-day Tuesday 5/4.
Anas Sarwar MSP (Glasgow) who declared on Monday (4 September), served as an MP for Glasgow Central between 2010 and 2015, and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016. He is by profession a dentist and practiced in Paisley before entering Parliament. He is perhaps better known outside of the party than Richard Leonard due to previous high profile roles as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Party (under Johann Lamont), and leader of Scottish Labour's campaign against independence, and as the party spokesperson on health in the Scottish Parliament. He draws his core support from the more progressive wing of the party and is popular with Labour parliamentarians. He is recognised for his formidable organising skills and ready sense of humour. On Friday evening his odds were 2/1 but have shifted to make him the even money chance.
Both will try to pitch themselves as the unity candidate and reach into the other’s natural territory for support. Whoever is able to do that successfully will run out the winner in what is expected to be a close contest.
The rules and process for the election have not been finalised, that will happen at a meeting of the Party’s Scottish Executive on Saturday 9 September. The process is likely to include a nomination period, campaigning period and an online and postal ballot of eligible members and supporters. The result should come before Christmas.
