Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been urged to lay out a timetable for his departure after Keir Starmer resigned as Prime Minister, with senior party sources accusing him of 'bed blocking' and behaving like a 'squatter' alongside deputy Jackie Baillie.
Worst Holyrood Election Result
Sarwar led his party to its worst ever Holyrood election result last month, falling to 17 MSPs. While Holyrood colleagues accept Starmer's unpopularity was the main factor behind the defeat, party insiders also say the campaign run by Sarwar was poor. A number of Scottish Labour figures were annoyed this week when Sarwar said he intended to lead the party into the 2031 Holyrood election, which would be his third attempt at becoming First Minister and mark ten years in charge of his party.
Internal Criticism and Calls for Change
One senior source said: 'We are ten months from Scotland returning to the ballot box for the local elections, yet nothing has been done to rebuild since May’s disaster. Anas and Jackie are behaving like squatters - refusing to take responsibility while Scottish Labour sleepwalks into a civil war. The humiliating fourth-place finishes in the recent Westminster by-elections are killing morale. The SNP have left Scotland’s public services broken but Scottish Labour can only defeat them if we break out of our Central Belt bubble. We need leadership that understands all of Scotland - before it’s too late.'
A second source was more dismissive: 'If Anas stayed on until the next Scottish Parliament election, that would mean he had been leader for a decade, longer than Neil Kinnock. Bed blocking won’t get us anywhere. There needs to be an orderly transition along the lines we are seeing at Westminster.' This was a reference to Starmer quitting on Monday and effectively making way for newly-elected MP Andy Burnham.
Party Review and Future Leadership
Scottish Labour’s governing body has launched a review of the Holyrood election, with the relationship with the UK party part of the terms of reference. The final report is likely to be issued in September - weeks before the UK Labour conference - and a third Labour insider said the review should coincide with Sarwar vacating the leadership. He said: 'Once the new Prime Minister takes office attention really needs to turn to Scottish Labour and what went wrong in the Scottish campaign. So far the Holyrood group is in a state between drifting, as new MSPs have no idea what they should be doing, and trying to carry on with business as usual as the more experienced hands continue the same attacks on John Swinney and the SNP. There cannot be a wasted summer of inertia. People were surprised by Anas’ statement this week that he will serve a full term. There is a lot of support for him to lead us through a review but the reality will have to be faced that even with a fresh start and new occupant in number 10 can he really go back to the country in 2031 for a third time? Members will expect clear direction and a timetable for his departure.'
Potential Successors
Two MSPs tipped to be potential successors are Michael Marra and Paul Sweeney. Supporters of Marra, who represents the North East region, favour a coronation over a contest if Sarwar stands down. Sweeney, a Glasgow MSP, is not believed to be enthusiastic about standing for the job. One senior insider said Marra would struggle to win a contest as his views would not chime with party members. Another source said Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie does not want Marra to take over, instead favouring newly-elected South Scotland MSP Joe Fagan. It is also unclear whether party rules would allow a Scottish Labour MP to stand for leader, as was the case in 2014 when Jim Murphy stood and won.
Asked if he intended to serve a full five-year term at Holyrood as Scottish Labour leader, Sarwar said this week: 'That is my intention, I'm hungry for the fight ahead, and I want to help make sure this country never ends up in the hands of Nigel Farage and Reform.' Scottish Labour has been contacted for further comment.
