Anas Sarwar announces bid to be next leader of Scottish Labour

Glasgow MSP Anas Sarwar has announced his bid to replace Richard Leonard as the next Scottish Labour leader.

Anas Sarwar has declared his candidacy for Scottish Labour leader.

The former dentist, who has been an MSP for five years – but who lost to Leonard in the last leadership contest in 2017 – will officially launch his campaign for the position tomorrow.

Leonard resigned on Thursday, just four months out from the Holyrood elections, declaring that speculation about his leadership was derailing the Labour message. Opinion polls had also shown that Labour was likely to lose up to six MSPs in May and that Leonard was still unknown to many voters after three years in post.

Mr Sarwar, who was also an MP for Glasgow Central until the SNP landslide in 2015, has been publicly backed by several senior colleagues including MSPs James Kelly, Daniel Johnson, Claudia Beamish, Jenny Marra and Neil Bibby. Kelly and Johnson had been part of a failed coup to remove Leonard as leader in September last year.

Writing in today's Observer, Sarwar said he wanted to “rebuild Scottish Labour and rebuild Scotland.”

Reflecting on how his “grandfather arrived in the UK on a boat with nothing” he said his family became Labour supporters as the party “fought for his rights and for our diverse minority communities”.

He added: “I doubt he ever imagined then that his grandchild would one day be elected to parliament and stand to be party leader.

“Growing up as a young Scots-Asian in Glasgow, I saw the difference that electing a Labour government could make in the battle against intolerance and injustice. Our party has always been at the forefront of building a fairer society. Today, in the face of some of the most overwhelming challenges – ending poverty, healing our health service, tackling the climate emergency – we are needed more than ever.”

Mr Anas said that Labour did not “have a right to be listened to” because of past achievements and “the truth is that we haven’t given the country, our members or our supporters the party they deserve.

“Over the past few years, I have gained a new perspective on our politics and realised that the things we argue about mean little to people’s lives. We spend too much time highlighting our differences, rather than focusing on what unites us. I am determined to bring our movement together so that we can rebuild our party.”

In a call to party members he added: “It will need all of us to work together – the whole team – so that we can transform our party into a strong and credible opposition with realistic, constructive ideas for the future.”

Mr Sarwar's shadow cabinet colleague for health, Monica Lennon, who recently successfully passed her Period Poverty Bill, is also believed to be considering running as leader.

Scottish Labour yesterday announced a tight timetable for the election with the aim of a new leader being in place by the end of next month.

Expressions of interest for the leadership close today and nominations from MSPs open from Monday January 18 to noon on Tuesday January 19.

If more than one candidate is validly nominated, the ballot will open on Tuesday February 9 and close on Friday February 26. The winner will be declared at an online announcement event on Saturday February 27.

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