After surviving a previous attempted coup, Richard Leonard resigned from the Scottish Labour leadership last week, just four months from the next Holyrood election. With details of this latest coup circulating the press, it is clear that Keir Starmer was involved in removing the left-wing MSP.
Continue reading Labour right-wing forces Richard Leonard outTag: Labour
Scottish Labour, The National Question and The SNP
By Ross Walker
After two years of utter humiliation following the 2014 referendum, 2017 saw a gradual improvement in Scottish Labour’s fortunes. In June they increased their seats from 1 to 7 in the snap Westminster election. In November, left-winger, Richard Leonard was elected after decades of right wing leadership. The party finished the year with some polls showing them having overtaken the Tories in popularity.
Continue reading Scottish Labour, The National Question and The SNP
Leadership Election: Scottish Labour Moving Left
By Amy Dean, Glasgow
The Scottish Labour leadership election came as something of a surprise to political commentators, and indeed Labour party members and representatives, across the country. Kezia Dugdale’s resignation on 29th August did not come after an embarrassing election result or in the midst of controversy. Rather, following the calamitous result in 2015, the June general election actually saw a partial recovery with the party returning seven MPs north of the border and increasing their vote by three percentage points. At the time of her resignation Dugdale cited personal reasons and a feeling that it was time to pass the baton on to someone else, though it has been speculated that she had come under criticism from the left-wing of the party for her lack of support for UK leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Continue reading Leadership Election: Scottish Labour Moving Left
New Challenges for YES Movement and SNP
Ross Walker, IMT Edinburgh
“With the rise of Corbyn, the SNP government needed to move to the left. Given the actual rise of a Frankenstein Tory right in Scotland, we were hardly risking anything. Besides, this morning we might have been celebrating a Corbyn government backed by the votes of nearly 59 SNP MPs.”
What the General Election results mean for Scotland
Editorial
The Tory Party has been humiliated. They’ve gone from having an overall majority to having to lean on the DUP. Corbyn is the hero of the hour having lead a campaign that inspired millions to vote and lead tens of thousands into political activity. The SNP still dominate Scotland by far but have taken a major kick. Key figures such as Alec Salmond and Angus Robertson have lost their seats. They’ve lost all their borders seats and much of the Highlands to Tories. In the central belt they’ve also lost seats to 6 seats to Labour who now have 7. They’ve even lost 2 seats to the Lib Dems.
Continue reading What the General Election results mean for Scotland
Holyrood 2016: What happened to Labour?
by Amy Dean
Last week’s Scottish parliamentary election results demonstrated the continuing dominance of the SNP over Scottish politics, as the party won the largest number of seats – 63 out of 129 – and secured 47% and 42% of the constituency and list votes respectively. Continue reading Holyrood 2016: What happened to Labour?
The Strange Death of Labour in Scotland
by Shaun Morris
Scottish Labour membership is a closely guarded secret. The last time the party published official figures they reported around 12,000 members. That was long before the independence referendum that proved to be a political disaster for Scottish Labour. Continue reading The Strange Death of Labour in Scotland
