Resignation of worst leader is a chance for his party

RICHARD Leonard was Scottish Labour’s ninth leader in the devolved era – and easily the worst.

The left-winger dragged his party down to fifth place at the European election and to fourth behind the Lib Dems at the general election.

He dreamed of inspiring a re-energised Labour movement but in the end reduced his party’s vote to diehards, friends and family.

Party moderates never rated Leonard and were bewildered when he was elected leader in 2017 over Anas Sarwar.

They believed the Corbyn-friendly MSP was out of his depth, possessed poor communication skills and was attached to a 1970sstyle policy programme.

Leonard’s enemies tried to depose him last year in a coup but fell short at a meeting of the party’s executive. The view was that he would lead the party into May’s Holyrood election.

At the same time, his natural supporters on the left grew increasingly tired of what they regarded as his unionist position on indyref2.

They wanted Scottish Labour to take a softer line on a referendum and were exasperated when he refused.

Leonard’s performance during the pandemic also began to grate with the people who voted for him in 2017.

Sources believe his focus on pubs and football amounted to shallow populism. His claim that hospitality venues had been treated like “Sodom and Gomorrah” was a low point.

Critics believe he had gone from having no media profile to saying almost anything, no matter how ridiculous, to get his name in the press.

If the moderates and the left had given up on Leonard, so too had Keir Starmer.

Jeremy Corbyn’s successor is not steeped in the history of the Scottish party but he knew Leonard was a drag on his own ambitions. The leader’s allies wanted him out.

Leonard is a limited politician but he is not arrogant. He realised he was going backwards and opted to resign.

The wider context is that Scottish Labour’s woeful performance is seen by the pro-UK side as a threat to the Union.

Sturgeon is hoovering up centre-left votes and believes Labour backers can tip the balance in a referendum.

On face value, losing a leader on the eve of an election campaign looks like a disaster.

In reality, Leonard’s resignation provides his party with an opportunity to select a future-looking leader and regroup under fresh management.

Sarwar, still scarred by his defeat to Leonard, is the favourite to succeed him.

The Glasgow MSP was a cautious figure in his early days in politics but allies believe he has learned from his defeat.

The key question is whether he will face a leadership challenge. Any delay to the Holyrood election would also help Labour. Leonard’s leadership, meanwhile, will be seen as a case study in failure. His best day in the job was also his last.