2021 Scottish Labour leadership election

Richard Leonard was elected as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2017 when he defeated Anas Sarwar to win with 56.7% of the vote. In the 2019 European Parliament election, the party lost its two seats in European Parliament for the Scotland constituency, and in the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the party lost six of its seven Scottish MPs.[1] Scottish Labour figures including Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) had called for him to resign during 2020 over the party's poor performance in opinion polls.[2] A motion of no confidence in Leonard was proposed at the party's NEC but withdrawn due to a lack of support.[3] Leonard resigned in 2021, saying that speculation about his leadership was a distraction from the party's message.[4][5]

On 16 January, the Scottish Executive Committee met and approved the procedure and timetable for the leadership election.[6] Candidates needed to declare their intention to run by midnight on 17 January, with nominations opening the following day. To be formally nominated, a candidate needs to be nominated by at least four of the party's 23 MSPs or by the party's only MP, Ian Murray[7]

On 16 January 2021, Anas Sarwar, the party's constitution spokesperson and a candidate in the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election, announced in an article in The Guardian that he was standing in the election, saying that the Scottish Government should focus on achieving equality rather than independence.[8] On 18 January, over a quarter of Scottish Labour councillors signed a letter endorsing Sarwar as leader.[9]

Monica Lennon, the party's health spokesperson, announced she was standing on Twitter on 17 January.[10] In 2020, she had called for the Scottish Labour Party to split from the UK-wide Labour Party.[11]

On 19 January, it was announced that both candidates had received the required nominations for them to progress to the next stage.[12]

On the same day as both candidates received the required nominations for the next stage, Lennon told The Herald that she supported Scottish Labour being the party of devo-max and believed that the party should not block a second independence referendum. She did not support a referendum being held at the current time due to the "pandemic and the need for economic recovery."[13]

On 21 January, Sarwar published an article in LabourList establishing his priorities. In the article, he called for modernisation and professionalism in campaigning and set his agenda focusing on "poverty, inequality, schools, health and jobs."[14]

The table below shows the number of nominations achieved by each candidate. Both candidates have received enough nominations to proceed to the next stage.[19]