Who should Scottish Labour call on next?

Kezia Dugdale says she resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party to spend more time with her constituents. Some hailed her resignation as a victory for Jeremy Corbyn. Dugdale was a vocal opponent of his leadership of the party whilst being unpopular with the people of Scotland. A chance for the Corbyn faction of the party to put a loyal supporter in charge in Scotland. A much needed change in Scotland where many Labour MPs are put in the same category as Tories. The party has slipped to 3rd in Scotland, somewhere it once had unassailable dominance. 

Yet there is hope.

Many are making left winger, Richard Leonard favourite to replace Dugdale. Mr Leonard has reportedly secured enough support to get his name on the ballet paper but can the Corbynytes choice win in an election to replace a woman who openly called for Corbyn to resign?

Leonard is former Trade union organiser with GMB and has strong ties to grass roots movements linked to Corbyn. Corbyn’s popularity south of the border has soared in recent months. Even the right wing media backing off from the onslaught he suffered from them prior to the general election. His popularity is based largely on his appeal to young people and the anti-establishment vote. Alongside his Anti-Austerity message, a message that Milliband did not adopt which has hurt Labour's credibility at the devolved parliaments.

Leonard will stand on a promise of jobs and education – what some might call traditional Labour values.

Although a timetable for the leadership election is yet to be set Leonard has emerged as an early favourite but he will face tough competition from former deputy leader and former acting leader, Anas Sarwar..

Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, is a former NHS practitioner. He has apparently secured the backing of leaders of both Glasgow and Edinburgh councils respectively.

Mr Sarwar was first elected to Scottish Parliament in 2010 when he replaced his father, Mohammad, who was the first Muslim MP in the UK. He is a polished performer who has regularly appeared on TV shows such as Question Time and has been co-chair of the all part parliamentary group on anti corruption. He has promised to unite the party, which has been described as broken.

He did though face criticism though for sending his child to a private school rather than a state school and his affluent background and more right wing ideology may cause him problems in leading Labour back to prominence in Scotland. He is the most Blairite of the prominent front runners but the bookies favorite. 

Alex Rowley is another candidate associated with Jeremy Corbyn. The current acting leader was said to be close to former PM Gordon Brown. The former Scottish Labour General Secretary was elected in 2014 but lost his seat in the 2015 general election. He won back his seat in the 2017 General election where Scottish Labour gained just 5 seats. More experienced as a second in command type role, Mr Rowley is unlikely to take the top job.

Monica Lennon is the only woman candidate and is relatively unknown. Only elected in 2016 she was previously a local councillor. The party Shadow Equalities minister told Hollyrood Magazine that her earliest memory was of fighting with a boy called Kevin at school. She described it as the story of her life.

She launched a consultation to make sanitary products freely available in Scottish Parliament saying “access to Sanitary products should be a basic right”.

It seems likely that who ever wins will be a Corbyn ally but turning the tide in Scotland will take a monumental effort. Scottish Labour needs to win many seats if Labour are to force a swing big enough to win any forthcoming General Election.  Richard Leonard would be my tip for leader, a man who could bring Corbyn's vision north of the border.

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