Leonard defiant: ‘If I thought there was anybody better... I would step aside’

Scottish Labour leader hits back at calls for his resignation

Richard Leonard has said he does not believe there is anyone in Scottish Labour who would make a better leader of the party than him.

Amid a storm of criticism of his leadership, the Scottish Labour leader said he would resign if he thought someone else could do his job more effectively.

Mr Leonard acknowledged there had been attacks on his leadership but argued that they had raised his profile, an outcome he hoped to exploit to take the fight to the SNP.

His defiant attitude came despite a recent internal rebellion that saw four of his MSPs urge him to quit – a call supported by senior Labour figures such as the former Defence Secretary Lord Robertson and former Scottish Secretary Baroness Liddell.

A no-confidence motion tabled for a last weekend’s meeting of Labour’s Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) was withdrawn at the last minute.

Mr Leonard claimed the withdrawal amounted to a “watershed” moment, which would enable Scottish Labour to move on with him in charge.

Critics have argued he has failed to make enough of an impression with voters despite being in the job for almost three years.

Last month a YouGov poll suggested Scottish Labour would finish third in next year’s elections, with support for the party on just 14% compared with the SNP’s 57%.

The same poll found Mr Leonard had failed to make an impact on the public, with 53% saying they did not know how well or badly he was performing.

Asked about the outlook, he said: “If I thought there was anybody better to lead the Labour Party, I would step aside.

“If I thought for a minute there was anybody better placed than me to lead the Scottish Labour Party I would consider my position. But I do not think that there is.”

Among the names tipped to replace him are Anas Sarwar, the Glasgow MSP, and Jenny Marra, the Dundonian North East MSP, who was one of those suggesting he should resign.

Others include James Kelly, Scottish Labour’s former justice spokesman who quit Mr Leonard’s front bench in protest at his leadership, and the Lothian MSP Daniel Johnson, who also called on him to go.

Mr Leonard added: “The irony is that over the course of the last few weeks, my visibility has risen considerably, because of the debate we have had about my leadership.

“I now want to build on that and make sure that I am projecting the positive Labour case, the positive Labour alternative, and I want to use that platform to hold the SNP government to account – to be an effective opposition.

“Because there will be a time in the not too distant future of reckoning for the SNP and how they handled the pandemic.”

Picture: PA. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard.