Anas Sarwar wins leadership of Scottish Labour party

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Anas Sarwar in 2017.
Image: Scottish Parliament.

Today, Anas Sarwar has been elected as leader of Scottish Labour ahead of Scottish Parliament elections scheduled for May 6. Sarwar, a Member of the Scottish Parliament from Glasgow, beat out Monica Lennon with a vote of 57.6% to Lennon's 42.4%, the BBC reported. The leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Richard Leonard.

In his acceptance speech, Sarwar said, "I want to say directly to the people of Scotland, I know Labour has a lot of work to do to win back your trust. Because if we're brutally honest, you haven't had the Scottish Labour Party you deserve. With rising injustice, inequality and division, I'm sorry we haven't been good enough. And I will work day and night to change that, so we can build the country we all need."

Sarwar has received congratulations in his win from both allies and political rivals, including Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie and Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie.


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