RED’S FLAGGING UNDER LEONARD
THINK TANK SCOTTISH LABOUR IN PERIL Damning report lays into party leader over low profile
A DAMNING report into Scottish Labour flagged up Richard Leonard’s low profile and praised the “highly effective” Nicola Sturgeon.
The presentation, put together by a pro-UK think tank linked to Gordon Brown, warned the party is in “peril” and claimed the “scarring could be permanent”.
In what is likely to be interpreted as a criticism of Leonard, the report claimed Scottish Labour politicians have a “limited audience” online.
As evidence, a bar chart showed that Leonard’s reach on social media comes nowhere near the levels enjoyed by senior SNP figures.
On Leonard’s watch as leader, Labour came fifth in the European elections and it lost six of its seven Westminster seats at the general election. Many party figures believe he has failed in the job and want him to stand down.
A “strategic overview” of Scottish Labour by Our Scottish Future (OSF) was circulated to Labour MSPs and reveals the full extent of the party’s problems.
The report, leaked to the Daily Record, claimed Scottish Labour is in “peril” and noted the polling over the past 15 months has “consistently indicated seat losses”.
The think tank also claimed the SNP had “stolen Labour’s clothes” on policy and warned the party is a “niche brand online”.
OSF said the SNP has six times the membership of Scottish Labour and four times the spending power.
On the First Minister, the report stated: “In Nicola Sturgeon,
Labour are facing a popular and highly effective politician who is capable of consistently elevating her party.” It cited Panelbase polling which showed Sturgeon with a net approval rating of +57 among 2019 Labour voters. The report said winning younger and female voters will be “particularly critical to achieving Labour’s ceiling”. It added: “Labour’s preferred constitutional option of federalism has limited cutthrough with the population or buy-in from either side of the debate.” On the next Holyrood election, the report identified the “two big strategic prizes” as overtaking the Tories and depriving the pro-independence parties of a majority.
SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: “So long as Scottish Labour remain hitched to Westminster control of Scotland they are doomed – regardless of who is in charge.”
Tory MSP Dean Lockhart said: “This analysis confirms that the Scottish Conservatives are the only party capable of challenging the SNP.”
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Richard Leonard is clear that he will be leading Scottish Labour into next year’s Scottish Parliament election on a platform to rebuild Scotland after the damage of Covid-19 by creating a National Care Service and a quality Jobs Guarantee Scheme.”