[20], In February 2021, the membership figure was down to 16,467. Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire) Who will Keir Starmer get to run for Labour in Islington North? Beyond that, she is credited with getting greater autonomy and democratic representation for the Scottish party on a UK level as well as helping to rebuild it. As with Welsh Labour, Scottish Labour has its own general secretary which is the administrative head of the party, responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation, and reports to the UK General Secretary of the Labour Party. Adam McVey and Cammy Day Fife Council Largest group. The fact that she gave up the deputy leadership is unlikely to count against her but she may judged to be too controversial for the job. List of scottish labour party leaders. The contenders were Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, a former Enterprise Minister in the previous Labour Executive, Andy Kerr, MSP for East Kilbride and former Health Secretary in the previous administration, and Cathy Jamieson MSP, the acting party leader who had been deputy leader under Jack McConnell. Vote for Your Favourite Scottish Leaders 1 William Wallace (Scottish Knight Who Became One of the Main Leaders During the First War of Scottish Independence) 41 19 Birthdate: April 3, 1270 Sun Sign: Aries Birthplace: Elderslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland Died: August 23, 1305 He was knighted for his achievements. She quit the role due to issues around donations her campaign for the leadership had taken, although authorities ultimately took no action against her. The leaders of Holyrood's five largest parties: Willie Rennie, Nicola Sturgeon, Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar, Patrick Harvie (and co-leader Lorna Slater) (Credit: Mark Hall) And in the lead-up to. Since 2007, Jackson Carlaw has been serving as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. Council Leader Cllr Jenny Laing. [78] At the beginning of the 2017 general election campaign, Labour's poll ratings fell to a historic low 13%, and were more than 15% behind the Conservatives in Scotland in some polls. By this time the partys structure in the nation was complex with constitu. Clement Attlee, 1950. Dewar became the inaugural First Minister of Scotland.[24]. [109], Ian Murray MP for Edinburgh South since 2010. Scottish National Party. An SNP and Independent collaboration offered a 6.5% hike in council tax - which would have been the highest in Scotland. Anas Sarwar has been elected the new leader of Scottish Labour, replacing Richard Leonard who led the party for three years. [30], The coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was narrowly re-elected at the Scottish Parliament election, with Labour losing seven seats and the Liberal Democrats gaining one. Anas Sarwar is the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party. [89] Leonard apologised for the UK party failing to address concerns over Brexit and for the Scottish party not having stopped what he described as the "SNP juggernaut". Delivering her victory speech, Lamont said: "I want to change Scotland, but the only way we can change Scotland is by changing the Scottish Labour Party. [39] The following day, however, Brown denied this was Labour policy and that Alexander had been misrepresented during Prime Minister's Questions in Westminster. [41], On 28 June 2008, Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of Scottish Labour as a result of the pressure on her following the donation scandal. From their peak of holding 56 of the 129 seats at the first Scottish parliament election in 1999, the Party has lost seats at each Holyrood election, returning 22 MSPs at the 2021 election. [18], In September 2017, it was reported that the party had 21,500 members and 9,500 affiliated through trade unions and other groups, making a total of 31,000 people associated with the party. [100] Under Sarwar's leadership, Scottish Labour have re-affirmed their constitutional position of unionism[101] which has led to a sometimes controversial selections of candidates. In her speech after being elected deputy leader, Kezia Dugdale said that the party's "focus has to be on the future a Scottish Labour party that's fighting fit and fighting for our future". He was deputy head of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) from 1919 to 1942. [64][65], On 24 October 2014, Johann Lamont announced her resignation as leader. Just 19% of people approved of his performance in the role, compared to 38% of those who disapproved. [42][43] Cathy Jamieson subsequently became interim party leader. But she was to resign after the referendum with an explosive statement accusing UK Labour HQ of treating the party in Scotland as a "branch office" and calling for more autonomy. The MSP took on Alex Salmond during his time as First Minister and Labour bested the SNP in a number of by-elections as well as handily retaining Glasgow City Council in 2012. Labour still won the most constituencies, but the SNP made inroads. To do that we need new ideas and new thinking. Odds - 12/1. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. It seemed at one point, like McConnell, that Gray would become a Labour First Minister, with his party ascendant in the polls for much of the time against Salmond's minority SNP administration. [25] On 21 October, Henry McLeish was elected to succeed Dewar, defeating rival Jack McConnell. Fame Popularity . They were replaced as Scotlands main party by the SNP from 2007 and lost second place to Ruth Davidson. Labour lost 40 seats in Scotland and were reduced to a solitary MP north of the border (and it wasn't Jim Murphy). [22] The Labour Party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a devolved United Kingdom. Akila Kanthaswamy (C) Graeme Lawrence (Lab) Simon McLean (Ind) Amy-Marie Stratton (Scottish Family Party) May 2022 first preferences SNP 2726 C 1728 Lab 1174 LD 579 Grn 296 Scottish Family. The leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party claims that without a new economic policy, Britain could be overtaken by Poland and Hungary. Following his unsuccessful leadership bid in 2017, Mr Sarwar claimed that one councillor had told him Scotland would not vote for him because of his religion and the colour of his skin. Lamont had, by party standards, a fairly lengthy time in the leader's office, serving a respectable two years and ten months. [27] 2023 West Lancashire by-election: Labour hold the seat with a 62.3% vote share, and an increase of 10.3%. ", "Scotland update: Is the SNP surge real? Starmer will ask the public to "judge me on whether you feel . Labour Party website. [28] Though McLeish could not have personally benefited financially from the oversight, he undertook to repay the 36,000 rental income, and resigned to allow Scottish Labour a clean break to prepare for the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. Between 1905 and 1912, he served as the Secretary of State for War and was instrumental in implementing a series of reforms of the British Army called The Haldane Reforms. [58] Anas Sarwar MP also led an unofficial organisation called the "2014 Truth Team", described by the party as "dedicated to cutting through the noise and delivering [] facts on independence". [13], In November 2014 the party's membership was claimed by an unnamed source reported in the Sunday Herald to be 13,500. He also served as the Lord Chancellor twice during his illustrious career. Thanks to his popularity, James is often depicted in historical novels, plays, and short stories. But Scottish Labour pointed out that the policy resembled plans announced by leader Anas Sarwar at the party's conference in Edinburgh last month. Members, MSPs, MPs and affiliated groups will now need to choose their ninth leader since Holyrood opened for business in 1999. One problem was that then-Labour PM Gordon Brown did not seem to agree. William Wallace was a Scottish knight who played an important role in the First War of Scottish Independence. He later headed the British Overseas Airways Corporation, too. McLeish resigned later that year amid a scandal involving allegations that he sub-let part of his tax-subsidised Westminster constituency office without it having been registered in the register of interests kept in the Parliamentary office, an affair which the press called Officegate. This included death threats made against his family. On Sunday, the health secretary, Humza Yousaf, and the former community safety minister Ash Regan confirmed that they would stand in the party's leadership contest, with at least a further two. Humza Yousaf's Aug 21 recovery plan was 'more about spin than substance'. Today, Sharon Dowey, Conservative List MSP, like a fox in a chicken coop, poses unashamedly in a food bank. The SNP, meanwhile, swept the board, winning 56 out of 59 seats. [46][47] On 13 September 2008, Gray was elected leader and promised a "fresh start" for Labour in Scotland. Scottish Labour Leaders Can you name every person who has served as the leader of Scottish Labour? McConnell was re-elected as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw but announced he would resign as Scottish Labour leader three months later. . She claimed she hadn't looked at any of their policies, adding: " I don't know what they are." The review included a recommendation for a new post of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party to be created (previous Scottish Labour leaders had only been the leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament). It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. The road outside the Russian Embassy in Kensington were painted with yellow and blue colours to mimic the Ukrainian flag. Dewar also campaigned vigorously for a Yes-Yes vote to win a Scottish Parliament in the 1997 referendum. A pacifist, he objected to Britains participation in World War I but eventually ended up being sidelined by his party. She called for reform and vowed to "reconnect Scottish Labour with its electorate", and helped set up the cross-party Calman Commission to review devolution. Since 2014, Sturgeon has been serving as the leader of the Scottish National Party and first minister of Scotland. ", "Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard quits just hours after wealthy potential donors pressure Keir Starmer to remove him", "Anas Sarwar elected as new leader of Scottish Labour Party", "Sarwar 'proud' of Labour's election showing despite recording worst ever result in Scotland", "Labour must be careful in chasing the unionist vote", "Anas Sarwar: Orange Order 'tolerance' challenge fired at Labour", "Scottish Labour councillor gets top job at Orange Order", "Sarwar: 'I didn't grasp how hollowed out Scottish Labour was', "Scottish Labour to ditch red rose in rebranding", "Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar is rattled by The National's questions on Tory deals", "Scottish Labour have tied themselves in knots over local government coalitions", "Two Edinburgh Labour councillors suspended after abstaining on vote which put their party into power", "Putin would welcome Scottish independence, claims Labour's Anas Sarwar", "EU Elections 2019: SNP secures three seats as Labour vote collapses", Scottish Labour as a case study in party failure: Evidence from the 2019 UK General Election in Scotland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scottish_Labour&oldid=1140089812. Hawara: 'What happened was horrific and barbaric'. Anas Sarwar elected as new leader of Scottish Labour Party Sienna Rodgers Anas Sarwar a Labour MSP for Glasgow ex-MP and former deputy leader has been elected today to succeed Richard Leonard as the new leader of Scottish Labour Party. In 2018, Mr Sarwar established the Scottish Parliament's cross-party group on tackling Islamophobia. It was led by Alistair Darling, a former Labour minister. Scottish king John Balliol, also known as Toom Tabard, was successful in taking over the reins of the kingdom out of 13 competitors for the crown, following Margaret, the Maid of Norways death. On election day itself, the party managed to improve on its 2015 result and received 27% of the Scottish vote in a surprisingly good night for the party nationwide, and picked up 6 seats from the SNP in traditionally Labour areas such as Coatbridge, Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, and Rutherglen, bringing its Scottish number of seats to 7. Leader of Barking and Dagenham council Darren Rodwell has been selected as the next Labour candidate for Barking. By comparison the SNP has been led by Alex Salmond twice John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon while the Tories have had David McLetchie Annabel Goldie and Ruth Davidson. Elected to the position unopposed, Wendy Alexander was the first to serve the party as leader of the opposition after it had spent eight years in coalition with the Lib Dems. Dewar died only a year later on 11 October 2000. [108], Sarwar, like Starmer, voiced his opposition to a proposed second Scottish independence referendum, stating that a Labour government would not grant a Section 30 order for one to be held. Comments. I find it astonishing that the leaders of the Labour Party and Tory Party are hand-in-glove when it comes to Brexit" SNP Westminster Leader . View Reports-/5-RATE QUIZ. His mastery of Scottish politics earned Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville the nickname King Harry the Ninth. Labour won the most votes and seats, with 56 seats out of 129 (including 53 of the 73 constituency seats), a clear distance ahead of the second-placed Scottish National Party (SNP). [95] Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Leonard had been pressured into resigning by wealthy donors, who told UK Labour leader Keir Starmer that they would not give money to the Westminster party unless Leonard quit. Labour Party - structure and organisation. Others included more autonomy for the Scottish party and the reorganisation of members into branches based on Holyrood constituencies rather than Westminster constituencies. Alex Rowley Julie MacDougall Craig Miller Chris Kane Ryan Smart Ewan Dillon North East Scotland Michael Marra Mercedes Villalba Barry Black Lynn Thomson Richard McCready Georgia Strachan Kaamal Bola Heather Herbert Owen Wright South Scotland Colin Smyth Carol Mochan Martin Whitfield Claudia Beamish Kevin McGregor West Scotland Jackie. The return of Alex Salmond to the SNP leadership buoyed the party, and after eight years in power, Labour lost to the SNP in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election by the slimmest of margins - one seat. See More by this Creator. Acting: 11 October 2000 27 October 2000. [8] At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the party lost 13 of its 37 seats, becoming the third-largest party after being surpassed by the Scottish Conservatives. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Hospitals inquiry: What is being investigated? On 10 April, McConnell unveiled Scottish Labour's election manifesto, which included plans to scrap bills for pensioners and reform Council Tax. And then there was this moment from aleaders' debate. It was originally published by STV News on 30 Aug 2017. David Kogan, Protest and Power: The Battle for . He taught French and Latin following his retirement. In the late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Greens, trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum. Posted: Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Kezia Dugdale's abrupt departure from the position, announced late on Tuesday, leaves the party facing its sixth leadership election in a decade. It also lost most of their constituency seats, although its share of the constituency vote declined by less than 1%. Donald Dewar led Labour's campaign for the first elections to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999. [44][45], The 2008 Labour group leadership election was the first time Labour had elected its Scottish leader with the participation of its members, using a system similar to that used at the time by the UK-wide Labour Party (the system had been adopted in 2007, but no ballot had taken place as Alexander had been unopposed). Scottish Labour Party Listed on 2023-01-24. It was triggered by the resignation on 16 December 2017 of Alex Rowley, who had been suspended from the post on 15 November 2017 following allegations that he had sent abusive . More recently, especially since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the party has suffered significant decline; losing ground predominantly to the pro-independence Scottish National Party, who advocate Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Born to a hat manufacturer, James Wilson initially wished to study law but later joined his fathers business. It also supports Scotland remaining part of the United Kingdom. She had already been deputy leader and leader at Holyrood during MPJim Murphy's tenure, which ended with Labour losing all of its Scottish seats at Westminster bar one. 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