GLASGOW City Council leader Gordon Matheson was last night facing a backlash from Labour MSPs furious at his attempt to become deputy leader of the party in Scotland.
The council leader’s bid to be elected to the role got off to a poor start yesterday when Glasgow Labour MSPs Hanzala Malik and Anne McTaggart both nominated his rival Cowdenbeath MSP Alex Rowley.
In an interview with The National, Malik accused Matheson of not having “thought about the issue clearly” and that he should remain in the council where he was doing a “good job”.
New party rules drawn up by Labour’s former leader in Scotland Jim Murphy mean councillors can stand as a deputy without being MSPs, but Matheson said he would seek election to the Scottish Parliament next year.
Malik said: “Gordon is a fine leader of the council with a good track record and was very good as education convener. He has his strengths but they are better placed in the council than perhaps in the parliament. If he was seriously interested in coming to the Scottish Parliament he should have shown that interest [in standing in a consistency] and he clearly hasn’t. Perhaps he hasn’t thought it out as clearly as many of us think he should have. I am an old friend and at least he should have the courtesy of speaking to me about it and weighed his options and discussed it.”
He added: “I think he is a fine leader and should stay in the council where he is doing good work.”
Another Labour MSP, who did not want to be named, said: “If it’s felt it’s important for the deputy leader to be a councillor and to have the contacts and links with other councillors, why then should that person come to the parliament as an MSP?”
Labour MSPs look set to nominate either Rowley or fellow MSP Richard Baker for the post, leaving Matheson battling to get the nominations from 60 councillors.
Rowley, the former leader of Fife Council and previously a general secretary of Scottish Labour, had last night secured the support of the seven MSPs he needed to go forward in the contest.
Figures on the left of the party were among those who nominated him, including Neil Findlay, Elaine Smith and Malcolm Chisholm. Setting out his intention to stand on Monday, Matheson underlined how he was elected unopposed as council leader until May 2016 and said by then Labour would have delivered on all the 2012 manifesto pledges.
As deputy Scottish Labour leader he would automatically go to the top of the Glasgow list and he has no current plans to seek to contest one of the eight Glasgow constituencies.
Malik was top of Glasgow’s regional list at the 2011 Holyrood election and is keen to stay in the slot to ensure his re-election.
However, if Matheson becomes deputy leader he would automatically get top ranking under the new rules and Malik would move to a lower ranking and may not get re-elected.
The regional list is seen as vital at next year’s election for Labour, as polling suggests that its eight constituency seats in the parliament will be lost. The party’s best hope remains with getting a reasonable number of seats through the list proportional representation part of the electoral system.
Matheson was said to be facing a challenge from Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe, a member of the party’s Scottish Executive Committee and the deputy leader of umbrella organisation Cosla’s Labour group.
But McCabe told The National he had decided not to stand, in part because of family commitments.
“I have been approached by a number of people to put my name forward for deputy leader but after careful consideration I have decided against it. My primary reason is my family commitments,” he said.
“I also have an important job to do as the leader of Inverclyde Council for the next two years and I want to ensure that I remain focused on that.”
He added: “I would like to see at least one candidate from local government stand for the position as I believe we need a real debate over the future of the local government and the relationship between local government and the Scottish Government. I also think it sends out an important signal that the party values local government and that local councillors have a crucial part to play in the future of the party.”
A spokesman for Matheson said: “Clearly there’s been a very short timetable between the announcement about the change of the rules and the opening of nominations. Therefore the opportunity to speak to all people, who in an ideal world Gordon would have liked to speak to, was restricted.
“Gordon had to make sure the campaign was up and running in order to get the requisite number of nominations by midday on Friday. He has thought about things clearly.”
The spokesman also said the new party rules suggested that the deputy leader should have a seat in Holyrood in order to be able to fully deputise for the leader in his or her absence.
Asked whether Matheson was confident of getting the support of six MSPs, the spokesman added: “Clearly standing from his position as a councillor it makes more sense for him to seek nominations from 60 councillors and we are confident we will get at least 60 if not many more.
“If any MSPs wish to support him I’m sure that would be welcomed.”
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