Sarwar female deputy pledge

Anas Sarwar has pledged a woman will always hold one of two deputy leader positions in Scottish Labour.

Mr Sarwar and Richard Leonard are standing to take over the leadership vacated by Kezia Dugdale last month.

With two men running for the leadership, and the UK party headed by Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson, Mr Sarwar said action must be taken to ensure gender balance.

He wants to create a new role and has also committed to a Labour shadow cabinet and Scottish Government cabinet with a gender balance of at least 50-50.

He said: “Every progressive piece of equality legislation has only been delivered because of Labour.

“It shows his commitment to gender equality”

“Our party introduced the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act, the Equality Act and the national minimum wage, securing rights for women across the UK. But there is much more to be done.

“To ensure women are adequately represented in our party and the Scottish Labour leadership, I am proposing at least one deputy leader will always be a woman.”

Scottish Labour Parliamentary Group chair Mary Fee MSP said: “Anas has always fought against inequality and this is a clear demonstration of his commitment to promoting gender equality within Scottish Labour and wider society.”

Meanwhile, Mr Leonard said Scottish Labour must “stay in tune” with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

He added: “Last year, when times were tougher, many called on Jeremy to quit but I was proud to be one of those who stood by him and backed his leadership.

“I believed the members’ judgment in electing him was right.”