Left-wing Leonard is Ladbrokes’ favourite to replace Kezia Dugdale. Who is he?

It all started late on Tuesday night when Kezia Dugdale announced her intention to resign from the post of Labour leader in an exclusive BBC interview.

The next morning, the Scotsman reported that left-wing MSP Neil Findlay would not be running in the election.

Anas Sarwar was initially the betting markets’ favourite, with Ladbrokes giving the former MP turned MSP the shortest odds this morning.

It then looked likely that left-wing Alex Rowley, the party’s deputy leader, could throw his hat into the ring, however, the BBC’s Nick Eardley has recently tweeted that Rowley is unlikely to stand and that the focus is turning to left-wing newcomer Richard Leonard.

This content could not be loaded Hearing from sources close to him Alex Rowley WON’T stand – all eyes on Richard Leonard from left — Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) August 30, 2017

The National has also reported that Leonard is likely to stand for the role to replace Kezia Dugdale, according to sources close to the MSP.

Before around 3pm, Sarwar and Leonard were the joint favourites to replacing Kezia Dugdale, but since then Leonard’s odds have shortened to make him the favourite.

Leonard’s Ladbrokes odds now stand at 6/4 compared to Sarwar’s of 2/1 (as of 3pm).

Who is Richard Leonard?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWrL1yOHaiY

Leonard was elected MSP for the Central Scotland Region only in 2016. According to his Scottish Labour Party bio, he worked for the GMB Trade Union and has been a TUC economist.

Could he be the leader Scottish Labour needs to take on Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives and Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP?