Scottish Labour is “stuck in the past”, one of its MSPs has said after failing to make it onto the leadership ballot.
Monica Lennon was unable to secure backing of three MPs to advance to the final run-off alongside fellow MSPs Michael Marra and Joe Fagan by the close of nominations on Monday.
The pair will now take part in a month-long contest to replace Anas Sarwar after he was made a UK Government minister and sent to the House of Lords.
Support from Westminster proved decisive
In the lead-up to the close of nominations, much was made of who MSP Carol Mochan would back, with her being the last of the Holyrood group to declare her support and Ms Lennon needing one more name to make it on the ballot.
But it was her support among the party’s Westminster cohort which proved most decisive, with only two MPs: Falkirk’s Euan Stainbank and Alloa and Grangemouth’s Brian Leishman, nominating her.
In a statement after the closure of nominations, Ms Lennon said: “Scottish Labour is stuck in the past.
“We are not listening to all of our members, the wider movement that built us or the millions of Scots who won’t vote for us.
“This leadership contest should have been a wide debate, rooted in courage, humility and the imagination to become a modern political party for workers and working class communities in Scotland.
“Our values mean nothing without vision, conviction and committed action.
“We must be a party where people can believe in fair work and a healthy planet; where women’s rights and LGBTQ rights are a shared struggle; where engaging in debate about Scotland’s place in the UK and the global community is a strength, not a weakness.”
The Glasgow MSP, who will return to Holyrood in September to replace Mr Sarwar after he resigned his seat, urged those remaining in the competition to “lead with decency and act with courage”.
Marra and Fagan to contest
Mr Marra, the party’s finance spokesman and author of the party’s manifesto ahead of May’s election, secured the support of 24 MPs and seven fellow MSPs, while Mr Fagan has the backing of seven MPs and five MSPs.
Speaking to the Press Association on Monday, just minutes after the announcement, First Minister John Swinney said Ms Lennon’s omission was a sign of a “stitch-up” in the contest.
“I think the Labour Party has got to explain its own internal mechanisms for selecting its own leader,” he said.
“I think, increasingly, the nature of the contest demonstrates the desperation of the Labour Party in Scotland today and the fact that a very popular candidate in Monica Lennon is not going to make it onto the ballot paper just rather suggests there’s been some sort of stitch-up within the Labour Party, which would be very typical of the Labour Party in Scotland.”
In a statement released after the close of nominations, Mr Fagan, the former leader of South Lanarkshire Council, said the party must be “bold again”.
“As this contest moves into its next phase, I want to thank every member, trade unionist and affiliate who has backed our campaign and helped us make the case for change,” he said.
“This campaign is about more than understanding what went wrong. It is about what Labour does next. It is about respecting work, backing our communities and giving working people real power over the future, not asking them simply to live with decisions made elsewhere.
“I want to rebuild Scottish Labour as the party of the working people of Scotland, rooted in our communities, serious about using power to change lives and ambitious enough to make Scotland’s future belong to the people who work, care, build, teach and keep our country going.”
