Labour battle lines drawn
Two names enter race for top job
SCOTTISH Labour leadership hopeful Ken Mackintosh has fired the first shots in the battle to replace Jim Murphy, as it emerged that anyone will be able to vote in the contest for £3, if they register as a party supporter.
The long-serving Eastwood MSP insisted he could defeat frontrunner Kezia Dugdale, saying she was not yet experienced enough to lead the party as he distanced himself from Mr Murphy, with whom he shared an East Renfrewshire constituency office.
Mr Mackintosh, who is standing on a platform of offering a more constructive form of opposition to the SNP, said: “The reason that Jim and I worked so closely together is that actually we were opposites, we were sort of Yin and Yang.
“My kind of politics is entirely different. I have got no interest in Westminster and never have done. I’m not interested in that kind of power politics whatsoever.”
Nominations for both the Scottish Labour leader and deputy leader positions open today, with Ms Dugdale and Mr Macintosh so far the only candidates for the top job and several vying to become second in command.
The party’s finance spokeswoman Jackie Baillie is believed to be preparing to declare her candidacy for deputy leader, while Alex Rowley, the Cowdenbeath MSP who quit the party’s frontbench team last month and called for Mr Murphy to resign in the wake of a catastrophic election defeat, is also seen as a contender.
Glasgow Council leader Gordon Matheson is understood to be considering running for the deputy leadership, as is Stephen McCabe, the leader of the local authority in Inverclyde. Speculation has been mounting for some time that Mr Matheson sees his future at Holyrood while Mr McCabe has a high profile within the party, currently holding a place on its executive committee.
Under reforms which Mr Murphy pushed through in his last act as party leader, councillors are able to stand for the deputy role for the first time.
The leader and deputy leader will be elected for the first time on a one-member, one-vote system.
Mr Gray said: “These radical new reforms will set Labour back on the road to regaining the trust of the Scottish people. I want as many people as possible to join us on that journey, which is why these new reforms will make it easier for
‘‘ These radical new reforms will set Labour back on the road to regaining the trust of the Scottish people
supporters to get involved.”
Elected Labour politicians have until Friday to declare their candidacy, with the new leaders announced on August 15.
Meanwhile, the deadline for parliamentary nominations for the UK Labour leader is at noon today. Shadow ministers Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall are expected to secure the 35 nominations from MPs required to stand, while left winger Jeremy Corbyn is likely to fall short.
Ms Cooper will give a speech in London today and announce a drive to end child poverty within a generation. She will say that after Labour made huge strides in reducing child poverty between 1997 and 2010, it is on course to rise to 4.7 million by 2020 under the Tories.