Why the most important person to Scottish Labour's future lives in London – Susan Dalgety
Whoever becomes their next leader, Scottish Labour’s fortunes are now irrevocably tied up with Andy Burnham’s
Scottish Labour is about to spend the next few months doing what it does best: fighting among itself. The leadership contest caused by the ‘elevation’ of Anas Sarwar to the House of Lords and a junior ministerial position means the party will cheerfully tear itself apart over who should have the dubious honour of leading the official opposition at Holyrood, albeit it jointly with Reform.
In days gone by, the contest would enthral not only paid-up party members and trade union backers, but also dominate the public conversation for its duration. Today, few care.
As one of the potential contenders, Monica Lennon, said earlier this week, the party is now “very diminished”. Indeed, so irrelevant has it become in Scotland, it could be argued that it makes no difference who wins the race. Soft-left, hard-left, independent-adjacent, die-hard unionist, does it matter? Whoever wins is a loser. That said, as a long-time member, albeit one hanging on by her fingertips, I do have a view, and it is ‘anyone but Monica Lennon’.
Belief in biology
I once worked with her – we were on Jim Murphy’s team together during his ill-fated tenure as Scottish Labour leader – and I have watched her transformation from soft-left loyalist to Corbynista to quasi-nationalist progressive with some interest. I despaired at her vocal support for self-ID and the notion that a man can transform himself into a woman through sheer willpower.
So while I will argue until my dying breath that there need to be more women in leadership positions, whether in politics, business or the public sector, on this occasion I cannot vote for a female leader who doesn’t believe in biology. Nor should anyone else.
The likely front-runner is Michael Marra, Scottish Labour’s shadow finance secretary and a former Dundee councillor. He would be the first to admit that he doesn’t share the ebullience of our new Prime Minister, but of all the possible contenders, he’s the one to beat. He’s far from the ideal candidate (is there such a thing?) but that could be countered with support from a new deputy leader, which brings me to Jackie Baillie.
Baillie has achieved almost mythical status in Scottish Labour. She has, through a lethal mix of charm and menace, become the party’s defining figure of the last three decades, from its heyday in 1999 to its current state of near-irrelevance. Scottish Labour’s fall is hardly her fault – there are bigger forces at play – but it’s surely time she handed over the deputy leadership to the next generation.
A new United Kingdom
I would argue that the new deputy leader should be an MP. After all, Sarwar was Johann Lamont’s deputy when he was last in Westminster. There are more than twice as many Scottish Labour MPs (37) as there are MSPs (17), and there are many talented women among the Westminster cohort, any one of whom could be as effective as Baillie.
Bringing an MP into the leadership team would be a strong signal to those party members who need reminding that we’re still part of the UK, and why it matters. Which brings me to the leader who will decide the long-term future of Scottish Labour – the king of the north, now Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
He has long been a supporter of devolution to the nations, regions and communities of Britain. He made decentralisation the main theme of his successful leadership bid. While he appears to have missed an opportunity this week to create a governing structure that reflects his vision of a decentralised state, one as strong in its communities as it is at the centre, he still has time to build the foundations of a new United Kingdom.
As my old boss and former First Minister, Jack McConnell, argued in a Holyrood magazine interview this week, the new Burnham government is an “opportunity for a reset across the whole UK”. While the Prime Minister may be in danger of over-egging his Manchester roots – please, no more Smiths lyrics – he doesn’t see Britain through a London lens. He understands instinctively and practically that over-centralised institutions, whether in Holyrood or Westminster, do not serve local interests well.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar 'delighted' to take up UK government job, as move to House of Lords confirmed
SNP’s cynical performance politics
Burnham has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a powerhouse country, one with a strong government at its core to provide leadership in areas such as climate, energy, the cost of living and defence, while at the same time handing power to people on the issues that matter to them every day: health, education, jobs.
If Burnham can channel the verve that propelled him from Manchester mayor to Prime Minister in a few weeks into creating a new devolved settlement for the whole UK, then there may still be hope for Scottish Labour.
Whoever the new leader is, Scottish Labour cannot be more nationalist than the SNP, nor should it want to be. But by working with a truly reforming Prime Minister, the new boss could show that devolution is far more than the SNP’s cynical performance of it, where its centralising tendencies have left people and places adrift, our public services and economy moribund. It is the mechanism by which Scotland and all its communities could flourish while remaining secure within the UK family.
So farewell, Anas Sarwar. Your departure offers Scottish Labour one last chance to prove its worth, but only if its new leader understands that the party’s future is irrevocably tied up with that of Burnham’s. Together, they could offer Scotland the next generation of devolution, one that works for people and is not simply a Trojan horse for secession. So while very few people care who replaces Sarwar, it does matter. And not just to Scottish Labour.
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