​Like the proverbial buses, Scottish Labour Party members thinking that they might be stuck with Starmer and Sarwar forever are suddenly offered two new leaders, although the new Scottish Labour Party leader will at least be subject to an actual vote. Whether that means they will have a meaningful choice, is another matter.

​One of the real strengths of the Scottish Parliament in its early days was the shared desire amongst those who supported its creation that, unlike Westminster, it would seek equal representation for women. The Scottish Labour Party played its part in pursuing that goal by a combination of all-women shortlists and zipped lists – alternating female and male candidates on the party's regional list. 

This article was written by Neil McKay as part of his Big Read series  in the The Herald on 19th July under the title Scottish Labour grandee urges 'King of the North' to rethink indyref2
​"If there’s a guardian of the left-wing flame in the Scottish Labour Party, it’s Pauline Bryan. Speak to any Labour member in Scotland who considers themselves left wing and you’ll hear nothing but praise, respect and admiration for Bryan.

ANDY BURNHAM’S victory at the Makerfield by-election has presented itself as a unique opportunity to inspire hope in the Labour Party and British politics once again. But if this victory is truly to represent the turning point that many hope it can be, Burnham must be prepared to make bold and meaningful decisions that create a vision and tell the story of the hopes and aspirations of a UK Labour government and what it can achieve. A fundamental shift in the party is the only hope of improving its chances of regaining favour with the British electorate.
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​We are now in a position where the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, think that we need to, at the very least, deepen our relationship with the EU and increase spending on defence. It is critical that the Scottish left takes these arguments on. Posed as a remedy to our economic ills and a means to keep us safe, they are neither. In fact they may well accelerate economic decline and help sustain illusions of post imperial glory.
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Despite much talk of a £5 billion “black hole” in Scotland’s funding, identified by Scotland's auditor general last year there was very little said by Scottish politicians on how such a deficit would impact on Local Government during the Scottish Parliament election campaign.

​Any objective assessment of the performance of the SNP incumbent administration in the Scottish Parliament, from a working-class perspective, ought to see them out on their ear. No matter where you turn, whether it’s the Cost of Living or Further and Higher Education, or Local Government, or the Health Service or the Schools or the Ferries, we find the same old neo-liberal obsession with fiscal rectitude and underfunding or poor planning or maladministration or all four.

ON MAY 8, the Scot­tish Par­lia­ment is set to look markedly dif­fer­ent. Along­side the famil­iar party col­ours that sym­bol­ise the Scot­tish polit­ical Estab­lish­ment will arrive Reform UK as the sup­posedly insur­gent party ready to shake things up

This article is based on a speech delivered by Brian Leishman MP for the Morning Star Fringe at the STUC Congress, April 21st 2026.
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​We had a decade and a half of austerity where the richest won and communities all over the country were ripped apart. The poorest and most vulnerable in society have been put back into Victorian era poverty.