Nominations closed today in the contest for Leader and Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour, with three valid candidates for each contest Johann Lamont is narrowly ahead in nominations for the Leadership and both she and Davidson have also got the backing of the GMB, although Anas Sarwar is well ahead in nominations for the deputy position.
The leadership candidates (with the number of nominations they received from MPs, MSPs and MEPs in brackets) are Tom Harris MP (12), Johann Lamont MSP (27) and Ken Macintosh MSP (26), and for the deputy leadership candidates are Ian Davidson MP (11), Lewis Macdonald MSP (13) and Anas Sarwar MP (44). Elaine Murray MSP is no longer in the running for deputy.
Although Johann Lamont is the current deputy leader, that is no guarantee of success in the leadership contest. Back in 2008 when Ian ray was elected Leader, he beat the then Deputy Cathy Jamieson who is now a Westminster MP. However, as the candidate most associated with the Left, she should expect to perform best in the trade union section, where she now has the backing of the GMB, and should be regerded as the candidate most likely to win. Tom Harris has no support amongst MSPs and looks likely to be eliminated. To win, Ken Macintosh, although still the bookies’ favourite, would need to win most of Harris’s transfers and perform well amongst party members to outweigh Lamont’s likely trade union lead.
In the race for deputy leader, Anas Sawar has a very strong lead which may prove unassailable. However, this does rest on his overwhelming lead amongst Westminster MPs. He may not be able to replicate this in other sections, so the supporting nominations may give a different indication.
Today, GMB Scotland secretary Harry Donaldson also announced that Johann Lamont and Ian Davidson had the backing of the GMB. He said:
These are the two candidates best equipped to win back the support of working people in Scotland to Labour because they will move Scottish Labour closer to working people. Both have a good track record of campaigning with GMB in the past. GMB want to build on that for the future. We hope that GMB Scotland members back our lead but we are a democratic organisation and it will ultimately be up to our members to decide.
The detailed nominations are as follows:
Leader of the Scottish Labour Party |
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Johann Lamont MSP nominated by |
Ken Macintosh MSP nominated by |
Tom Harris MP nominated by |
Members of the Scottish Parliament Jackie Baillie Richard Baker Claudia Beamish Sarah Boyack Malcolm Chisholm Helen Eadie Patricia Ferguson Neil Findlay James Kelly Hanzala Malik Johann Lamont Paul Martin Anne McTaggart Siobhan McMahon Duncan McNeil Elaine Murray John Pentland Drew Smith Elaine Smith Dave Stewart Members of Parliament |
Members of the Scottish Parliament Claire Baker Neil Bibby Kezia Dugdale Mary Fee Mark Griffin Ken Macintosh Margaret McCulloch Margaret McDougall Jenny Marra Michael McMahon John Park Graeme Pearson Richard Simpson Members of Parliament Members of the European Parliament |
Members of Parliament Douglas Alexander Anne Begg Sheila Gilmore Tom Greatrex Tom Harris Eric Joyce Michael McCann Ann McKechin Iain McKenzie Ian Murray Pamela Nash John Robertson Members of the European Parliament |
Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party |
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Anas Sarwar MP nominated by |
Lewis Macdonald MSP nominated by |
Ian Davidson MP nominated by |
Members of the Scottish Parliament Jackie Baillie Claire Baker Neil Bibby Claudia Beamish Patricia Ferguson Mark Griffin James Kelly Hanzala Malik Paul Martin Siobhan McMahon Duncan McNeil Anne McTaggart John Park Graeme Pearson John Pentland Drew Smith Kezia Dugdale Jenny Marra Michael McMahon Members of Parliament Members of the European Parliament |
Members of the Scottish Parliament Richard Baker Malcolm Chisholm Mary Fee Helen Eadie Lewis Macdonald Margaret McCulloch Margaret McDougall Elaine Murray Richard Simpson Dave Stewart Members of Parliament |
Members of the Scottish Parliament Neil Findlay Elaine Smith Members of Parliament Members of the European Parliament |
Hustings are now due to take place as follows:
Date | Title | Location |
---|---|---|
Friday 18 November, 19:00 | Ethnic Minority Hustings | Glasgow |
Saturday 19 November, 11:00 | Youth & Student Hustings | Glasgow |
Sunday 20 November, 14:30 | Aberdeen Hustings | Aberdeen |
Tuesday 22 November, 19:00 | Edinburgh Hustings | Edinburgh |
Friday 25 November, 19:00 | Inverness Hustings | Inverness |
Sunday 27 November, 19:00 | Dunfermline Hustings | Dunfermline |
Monday 28 November, 19:00 | Glasgow Hustings | Glasgow |
Thursday 1 December, 19:00 | Dundee Hustings | Dundee |
Sunday 4 December, 14:30 | Stirling Hustings | Stirling |
Tuesday 6 December, 14:30 | Ayr Hustings | Ayr |
Thursday 8 December, 19:00 | Women’s Hustings | Motherwell |
Unite and Unison nominated Lamont/Davidson during the weekend while Community went for Macintosh/Sarwar.
I see from twitter that some CLPs have started doing their supporting nomination. Will the ScotLab party website update them during the week?