In one of the most irrelevant leadership elections in history, Anas Sarwar has defeated Monica Lennon for the leadership of Scottish Labour. The two MSPs went head-to-head after the surprise resignation of hapless Richard Leonard last month. The quick turnaround in this election contrasts sharply with the national leadership election last year, which took four months to unfold. Then again, there is a Holyrood election barely two months away and Labour are desperate to introduce their latest leader to the electorate, an electorate incidentally that doesn't really care which muppet is in charge of a party that is going to finish third - again.
Since Labour embarrassingly lost control of Scotland to the SNP just eight years after devolution, the leadership of Scottish Labour has changed hands seven times in 14 years. This was Sarwar's second punt at the leadership, having lost to Leonard in 2017. That says it all really. A Pakistani Glaswegian lost to a Yorkshireman back then, but now he is the leader, having defeated a Scots vegetarian with a fear of cats.
The future is not bright for Labour in Scotland.
Latest polling for Holyrood election (Ipsos MORI, 15-21 Feb)
SNP 52% (-3)
Con 23% (+1)
Lab 15% (+1)
LDem 5% (-1)
Green 3% (+2)
Other 2% (+1)
Scottish Labour welcomed Sarwar's victory on Twitter with the hashtag #BuildBackBetter, a slogan used by numerous Western leaders such as Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau. Why would the Labour Party indulge in a slogan used by a Tory Prime Minister? Well, it also happens to be the slogan of the World Economic Forum's Great Reset programme.
Curiously, the Labour Party have not released the number of votes for each candidate. It did not do so for the most recent NEC elections either. This may well suggest that membership numbers are not healthy in the reign of Starmer. No slogan is going to change that.
