Jeremy Corbyn is hoping a leftwing candidate will emerge to stand for the leadership of the Scottish party, after Kezia Dugdale unexpectedly announced her resignation.

Labour’s London leadership had initially been expected to press for a quick contest to replace Dugdale, in the hope that Neil Findlay, the MSP who ran Corbyn’s leadership campaign in Scotland, and recently published a book called Socialism and Hope, would clinch the job.

But after Findlay ruled himself out on Wednesday, followed by Dugdale’s deputy, Alex Rowley, senior Labour figures at Westminster said they saw no need to rush – and signalled they would like to see an influx of new members into the Scottish party, to “widen the franchise”.

The early favourite for the job is Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour’s health spokesman and son of Mohammad Sarwar, the UK’s first Muslim MP. An effective operator at Holyrood but a centrist, Sarwar is regarded with suspicion by some on the left yet is now a clear frontrunner after several leading potential candidates from the left ruled themselves out.

Its youngest leader since devolution, Dugdale surprised her party by announcing her resignation on Tuesday night. Allies said it was a personal decision, driven by the relentless pace of Scottish and UK politics over the past two years, and exacerbated by tensions with the party leadership in London.

In Dugdale’s resignation letter, she said the loss of a close friend, Gordon Aikman, to motor neurone disease earlier this year had made her reconsider her priorities. “His terminal illness forced him to identify what he really wanted from life, how to make the most of it and how to make a difference,” she said.

The unexpected capture of six seats in Scotland in June’s general election has convinced senior figures at the party’s headquarters that it is there the next contest will be won or lost.

Although Scottish Labour now has seven MPs at Westminster, the centre of gravity in Scottish politics has now shifted to Holyrood, effectively leaving party members a pool of 23 MSPs to choose from. Richard Leonard, a former GMB official allied to the Corbyn grouping in Scotland, has yet to declare.



A close ally said Dugdale’s decision had been a personal one. “She hasn’t spoken to me or anyone as I understand it. My guess is the constant attacks and backbiting by the left who wish to ‘unite’ the party was the last straw. However, her resignation letter is probably the way she feels,” he said.



He said attacks within the party from critics such as Findlay, a senior figure in the leftwing Campaign for Socialism, the Scottish party’s equivalent of Momentum, will have added to her fatigue and frustration.

Corbyn underlined the importance of Scotland to the leadership in Westminster when he spent five days last week touring the country, including seats Labour hopes it could take from the Scottish National party.

Party figures close to Corbyn said there had been no pressure on Dugdale to leave. Claims there was a confrontation between them last week were dismissed as “absolute nonsense” by one source, who said their dealings were cordial and respectful.



Dugdale fought hard to establish a more federal structure in Labour, securing a seat for the leader of the Scottish party on the ruling national executive committee, which makes crucial decisions about how the party is run.

Rowley will stand in for her for the time being – including on the finely balanced NEC – and is regarded by other members as more likely to support Corbyn. “Jeremy will have things all his own way,” said one.

Unite, Labour’s biggest donor, urged the Scottish party on Wednesday not to rush into a contest. Praising Dugdale for increasing the party’s number of seats at Westminster from one MP when she took over two years ago to seven today, the union’s Scottish secretary, Pat Rafferty, said: “We urge the party to reflect upon this turn of fortunes and consolidate, not to act in undue haste on any succession plan.”

He added: “There is no need to rush into a leadership election. Under Alex Rowley’s leadership we are confident that the voices of Scotland’s working people will be heard loud and clear at Holyrood.”

A spokesman for Corbyn said the timing of any contest would be up to the Scottish executive committee to decide. “The SEC will meet on Saturday 9 September to consider the timetable and process for selecting their next leader,” he said.

A final list of candidates is likely to emerge in the coming days. A candidate needs to attract 15% of the nominating body, which is made up of the party’s MPs, MSPs and MEPs. So as of now, that means it needs five of those.

Although seen as a centrist who will put off leftwing pro-independence voters, Sarwar has become one of Holyrood’s most effective performers and organised a full-to-capacity rally for Corbyn at Glasgow central mosque last week. Muslim voters in the city are a key demographic for both Labour and the SNP.

So far, all of the most likely candidates are men but senior Labour women have pointed out that Dugdale was the only woman among Labour’s key leadership figures – Corbyn, his deputy Tom Watson, and the Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones.

Jess Phillips, the Birmingham Yardley MP, said: “The Labour party has a thorny issue to face, as if [Kezia]was replaced by a man all of our leadership positions go to men. People will shout meritocracy as if women aren’t good enough and the best person for the job is always a man, but what’s not good enough is if Labour women are always sidelined.”





• This article was amended on 31 August 2017. An earlier version included incorrect information about Scottish Labour’s selection process, which had been supplied in error.