MSP Anwar sets out stall to be next Scottish Labour leader
GLASGOW MSP Anas Sarwar has confirmed his bid to succeed Yorkshireborn Richard Leonard as the next leader of Labour in Scotland.
Announcing his intention to stand, Mr Sarwar said the country “needs political leadership that will bring people together” and that he wants “to rebuild Scottish Labour, and then rebuild Scotland”.
The leadership race, less than four months before the Holyrood election, was triggered by Mr Leonard’s resignation on Thursday, as he declared it in the “best interests” of the party.
Mr Leonard, a former trade union official who grew up in North Yorkshire and went to Pocklington School, was voted into the post in November 2017, when Jeremy Corbyn was the party’s UK leader.
After news broke of his resignation, Mr Sarwar, 37, paid tribute to his former boss, saying: “Richard has led our party through one of the most difficult times in our history.”
Announcing his intention to succeed Mr Leonard in a column for The Observer online yesterday, Mr Sarwar said: “Over the past few years, I have gained a new perspective on our politics and realised that the things we argue about mean little to people’s lives.
“We spend too much time highlighting our differences, rather than focusing on what unites us.
“Scottish Labour can compete again if we offer a positive alternative – a plan to heal our wounds, to reunite our people and to rebuild our country.”
On Saturday, the party’s executive agreed to a condensed timescale for any contest with the election looming, with party members to vote on candidates from February 9 to 26.
Scottish Labour’s chairwoman, Cara Hilton, said: “The Scottish executive committee agreed that a new leader of the Scottish Labour Party will be elected by a ballot of party members and affiliated trades union members in February.
“The new leader will be announced on February 27 and will lead Scottish Labour into the Scottish Parliament election with a fresh energy to carry Labour’s message and take the fight to the Tories and the SNP.”