I AM sure that in the next few weeks members of Scottish Labour will be on the receiving end of a great deal of comment and advice from your correspondents, although curiously much of this will come from those who have already made it clear that they do not have the party’s best interests at heart. (Or, to use a phrase much loved of the First Minster, we will be “expected to take lectures” from them.) As someone whose Labour membership will reach 40 years duration in a matter of weeks, maybe your readers might like a view from the inside.
First: Kezia Dugdale. Ms Dugdale knowingly took on a very difficult job and did it with no little success. She showed courage, energy and intelligence in all that she did. Above all, she “spoke human” – sometimes to her own disadvantage. No-one will deny that she had her faults like all politicians, but many of these would have been eliminated over the longer term, and she started from a much higher level than, for example, Nicola Sturgeon, in the qualities required. It is also crucially the case that under her leadership Scottish Labour positioned itself as a more radical redistributive party than the Tory-lite do-nothing-and-moan SNP. So we can thank her, and should now look to see how we can build further on what she leaves.
I really hope that the leadership election is as expected between Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard.
On the one hand we would have the child of an immigrant family that has succeeded in creating a prosperous life for themselves from nothing and in the face of discrimination and prejudice. Mr Sarwar is also an experienced parliamentarian who has been knocking spots off the hopeless Scottish Government in the health brief at Holyrood. It is easy to see him as the Scottish Sadiq Khan.
On the other hand, Richard Leonard brings with him decades of experience in the world of industrial relations and trade unions, as well as being a trained economist: both of these place him head and shoulders above anyone on the SNP benches. His union background might place him as Scotland’s Alan Johnson.
Above all, as a Scottish Labour member, I am heartened by the reception of both of these possible candidates by different parts of the party. One of the most left-wing members I know has welcomed the prospect of Mr Sarwar as leader , and another friend (who is even more right-wing Labour than I am) has described Mr Leonard as an “all round good egg.” I am sure that whoever wins will deserve and receive a breadth of support from the party unseen for many years. When we add this unity to the platform created by Ms Dugdale, things are looking up for Scottish Labour’s revival.
And who will I vote for? That’s between me and my ballot paper.
Peter A Russell
Planet Pedro! 