The same old faces as Labour unveils election candidates
KEZIA Dugdale has dramatically failed in her bid to introduce new blood to her troubled Scottish Labour Party after unveiling this year’s Holyrood candidates.
The regional top-up list is dominated by sitting MSPs and former MPs and MSPs, with many young hopefuls too far down the rankings to have any hope of victory.
An opinion poll published yesterday put Labour and the Tories neck-and-neck going into May’s election, which means Miss Dugdale’s party can expect to lose most – if not all – of its constituency seats.
The prospect of a crushing defeat triggered a blood-bath in the race to secure a decent spot on the regional list system, with most observers now predicting three Labour MSPs in each of the eight regions, and possibly four in Glasgow and the West of Scotland.
However, while a number of candidates considered future stars are likely to miss out, Miss Dugdale has succeeded in effectively deselecting some of Holyrood’s worst performers, such as Anne McTaggart and Hanzala Malik.
An attempt by Left-wingers loyal to Jeremy Corbyn to build a powerbase i n each region has largely failed, which means the moderate Miss Dugdale is less likely to face a leadership challenge from the party’s socialist wing after the bruising election.
But she is set to be joined by as few as four new faces after May 5 – highly ambitious Left-wing GMB official Richard Leonard and South Lanarkshire councillor Monica Lennon in central Scotland; former teacher Leah Franchetti in the Highlands and Islands; and former party general secretary Colin Smyth in the South. Those set to miss out include Cat Headley, who won plaudits for refusing to shy away f rom her role i n Better Together during the selection race.
She has been ranked seventh on the Lothian list, while spin doctor Martin McCluskey came eighth in West Scotland, former Labour chairman Jamie Glackin came seventh in mid-Scotland and Fife, and former NUS president Mandy Telford failed to even make the list in central Scotland.
Two former MPs who lost their seats in the General Election are expected to make a comeback: Anas Sarwar, the former deputy leader who has topped the list in Glasgow and is seen as a future leader, and Thomas Docherty, who secured third place in mid-Scotland and Fife. The only other former MP who wanted to go to Holyrood, Fiona O’Donnell, ended sixth on the south of Scotland list.
After winning last year’s leadership race, Miss Dugdale said: ‘I am going to go out and seek new people to stand for the Scottish Labour Party.’ Yesterday, she said: ‘I am delighted with the talented people who have been selected as candidates. This is an impressive list.’
Yesterday’s YouGov poll put the SNP on 50 per cent in constituency voting intentions, with Labour on 19 per cent and the Tories on 20 per cent. In regional voting intentions, the SNP was on 42 per cent, with Labour and the Tories tied on 20 per cent. If replicated in May, that would hand the SNP 70 seats, with Labour on 26 and the Tories on 24.