Scottish Labour: Leadership contest highlights issues in parliamentarians’ relationships to the labour movement

Will they clear the obstacles?

Each of the declared candidates for leadership of Scottish Labour has three ‘hurdles’ to overcome to get on the ballot that then goes out to members. 

The election of leader is timetabled to conclude on September 19th but there is an outside chance, at the time of writing, that one or more of the candidates fails to overcome the hurdles in front of them. 

Each candidate needs the support of two MSPs in addition to themselves, three Scottish constituency Westminster MPs and three affiliates, two of which must be trades unions. The fact that these requirements are in anyway being considered hurdles is noteworthy. 

Michael Marra (MSP for North East Scotland) has the required support of MPs and MSPs, but as yet has not secured the support of two unions. The fact that he was a close ally of soon-to-be-decked-in-ermine Anas Sarwar and that he led on the writing of their recent Scottish Parliament election manifesto does not appear to have assisted in creating a smooth route to being on the ballot. 

Monica Lennon (MSP for Glasgow, pictured) is regarded as the left candidate, and already has the backing of UNISON, with Unite’s Labour Party Liaison Committee recommending that union should also back her.

Lennon has the support of two of the required three MPs and as yet only two MSPs, including herself. It looks like Labour attaining a leadership candidate popular outside of its own ranks will not be automatic. 

Joe Fagan (MSP for the South of Scotland) is understood to have had the encouragement of acting leader Jackie Baillie to put his name forward. The former South Lanarkshire Council Leader has the support of enough MSPs and MPs but for the moment no unions. 

There is a little time before the deadline of August 17th for support from MPs and MSPs. Lennon will need to find the support of one more MP and one more MSP to progress. If this does not happen, questions will be asked about senior Labour politician’s failure to back a woman candidate supported by Scotland’s two biggest trade unions.

The implications for Scottish Labour’s contribution to Scotland’s future, as considered in our recent website article, will also wait to be seen. 

Marra and Fagan have a little longer (August 24th) to attain the formal backing of Scottish Labour’s remaining eight affiliated trade unions. 

USDAW, Community, GMB, CWU, NUM, ASLEF, TSSA and the Musician’s union are yet to publicly express a view. If any of these add support to Monica Lennon’s list of union backers, it will exacerbate the perception that she is being actively blocked by parliamentary colleagues whilst having strong links to the representatives of workers. 

Equally, there will be growing pressure on Michael Marra and Joe Fagan to win backing from the list above. Failure to do this in a timely fashion will increase the nerves of the two men looking to obtain the top job, but it will also point to the distance between parts of the movement and potential Labour leaders. 

With many of the Scottish Trades Union Congress’s 45 affiliates, including EIS, FBU, RMT, UCU, PCS and NUJ, not affiliated to Labour, the reality of the movement’s political pluralism is a challenge that will require to be grappled with by whoever eventually gains the top spot.

Published 8 August 2026