New Scottish Labour leader: I’ll support England against Scotland
New Scottish Labour leader should be applauded for telling the ‘ honest truth’ about his sporting allegiance
As honest answers go, the man who would be First Minister kicked off his Scottish Labour leadership with a brave move. Yorkshireman Richard Leonard said he would support England ahead of Scotland if they clashed at football or rugby
New Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has revealed he would support England ahead of Scotland if the nations clashed at football or rugby.
The Central Scotland MSP, who was born and raised in North Yorkshire, has spent most of his life living and working in Scotland after studying at the University of Stirling. He has made it clear that he wants to be First Minister of Scotland after winning the Labour leadership at the weekend.
The admission that he would support his birth nation met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed her new rival, echoing the feeling of most that he was being “straight” with voters.
But it raises the prospect of Mr Leonard being in the awkward position of sup - porting the biggest sporting rival soft he country he may be leading, should the two nations clash in a major sporting event while he is in Bute House.
Mr Leonard set out his allegiance on Radio 5 Live yesterday.
“If it’ s England versus Scotland, I do support England. Every other game I will support either Scotland or England,” Mr Leonard said.
“I’ m not going to try and makeup something which would be inaccurate. That’s the honest truth and my wife, who is Scottish, she would bear that out. We watch football together.”
During the election campaign, Mr Leonard defended his English, private-school past, saying no one should be criticised for where they were born or went to school. And his sporting allegiance won Ms Sturgeon’s backing.
“Man born in Yorkshire supporting England at football is not news & has no bearing on his ability to lead S cot Lab !” the First Minister tweeted.
The general response to the revelation across social media was also positive .“I don’t vote for them any more but of course he would sup - port England, and why not. I would always support Scotland ,” commented Ian Smith on the Scots man’ s Facebook page.
But there were some dissenting, including Callum Dudgeon on the Evening News on Facebook .“How can you be First Minister of Scotland and not be or at least associate yourself as Scottish, the guys finished already,” he said.
The issue has been sensitive for Scottish political leaders before. During the 2006 World Cup then First Minister Jack Mcconnell raised eyebrows when he said he would not be supporting England, along with SNP rival Alex Salmond, after Scotland failed to qualify. Then Chancellor Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said they would support England.
It’s impossible not to have sympathy for new Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard. Firstly, former leader Kezia Dugdale announced her appearance on I’m A Celebrity on the morning of his victory.
And now he faces headlines which say: Leonard supports England.
As former Labour leaders Jack Mcconnell and Gordon Brown know all too well, becoming embroiled in conversations around sporting allegiance rarely end positively.
Mr Leonard, of course, has told “the honest truth” and should be applauded for that. Asked who he would support in a football or rugby match between Scotland and England, the Yorkshire- born leader of Scottish Labour said it would be England.
Many have quickly denounced this as a “non- story” and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted to say “Man born in Yorkshire supporting England is not news”.
And she’s right. No- one really cares which football team the leader of Scottish Labour supports. However, as Mr Leonard is only too aware, the job he wants is not Labour leader, but First Minister of Scotland. Some will deny it’s a problem, but for a section of Scots the idea that their political leader doesn’t support Scotland in every way possible will be an issue.
Scotland vs England for the Grand Slam? Is Mr Leonard going to sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot at Murrayfield? Will he arrive bedecked in white- and- red for a vital World Cup qualifier?
Of course not. And, for many, sport is unimportant set alongside our many other challenges. But for others, sport is one of the few ways Scotland can express itself on the world stage as a country.
And the thought that our own First Minister might not be cheering along the national team will be tough for some to swallow when it comes to the crunch.
Nation states can take these issues seriously. In Australia, several politicians have been forced to resign as MPS after discovering that, unbeknown to them, they had dual citizenship.
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a leading Republican politician in the US, who rose to become governor of California. However, because he was born in Austria, this US citizen is barred from taking the next logical step and making a bid for the White House. Whether Scotland is ready for an England fan in Bute House remains to be seen.