LABOUR was last night said to be on the brink of a “bloodbath” as a leadership crisis loomed following Jim Murphy’s decision to remain in the top post.
Sources in the party predicted Murphy could not continue in charge having lost his own seat and 39 MPs in the most humiliating election in his party’s history which left the party with just one Scots MP.
They believe other figures would soon be adding to calls for his resignation such as that made by defeated Labour MP Ian Davidson, who was among the string of Labour politicians to be overthrown as the Scots political landscape was hit by a nationalist revolution.
“I don’t see how [his leadership] is sustainable. He lost. He’s claiming he can be the leader of the country in 12 months’ time, yet he can’t win his own seat,” one senior insider told The National. “He can’t hold seats some MPs have held for 18 years and yet he’s supposedly going to run Scotland. I can’t see it.”
He added: “Off the record. I think there’s going to be a bloodbath. More people will start coming out like Ian Davidson did last night. We’ll probably hear more from Ian Davidson, and then the unions will start.”
A second Labour figure said there was anger among the party’s grassroots and members were asking why Murphy was still in charge,when other losing leaders — UK Labour’s Ed Miliband, the Lib Dems’ Nick Clegg, and UKIP’s Nigel Farage — had all stepped down.
He said: “Jim did not think he would lose his seat. He thought he would hold on. I think a lot of his insistence about staying on is that he has nowhere else to go. He hasn’t got a seat. He’s not going to the Lords. He’s out of the game completely.
“There is anger in the party among the grassroots and I think Jim is probably still in shock. But with Miliband gone, Clegg gone and Farage gone, people are asking why is Murphy holding on?”
The insider said there was a need for radical action to be taken to move the party forward and that pressure was growing among the membership for them to be asked who should be in charge.
“My own view is that I don’t think Jim is going to survive for much longer. People are not happy, and it’s not just MPs who have lost their seats. The big question is who is going to spearhead a campaign to replace him?”
Fury increased among members after the defiant Murphy vowed to continue in his leadership role when he held a press conference yesterday morning just hours after losing his East Renfrewshire seat to the SNP’s Kirsten Oswald.
Fending off calls for his immediate resignation, he insisted he would lead Scottish Labour’s “bounce back” from the crushing defeat.
Insisting he “carried the can” for his party’s wipeout, he said: “The Labour Party hasn’t been good enough and strong enough.” He said they were responsible in good times and bad times, and owed it to the 700,000 voters who had backed Labour at the election to become an effective opposition to the SNP.
“Our judgment and our determination is to rebuild from here, to rebuild with a continued sense of energy and a continued sense of teamwork with our activists,” he said.
Murphy’s determination to continue as leader and rebuild the Scottish party will also be severely hampered by a lack of funds. The loss of 39 Scots MPs will deprive the party of significant parliamentary income and resources, as well as a parliamentary platform.
But Davidson, who lost his Glasgow South West seat yesterday, told the BBC that Murphy would have to resign.
“Morally, as the man who has led us to the biggest-ever disaster that Labour has suffered in Scotland ... of course he can’t continue,” he said. “The process of rebuilding the Labour Party has got to start with an examination of both personnel and ideas.
“And therefore Jim has got to do the honourable thing and resign. I’m sure once he has got time to reflect, he will do that.”
Murphy was among a string of Labour big-hitters to lose their seats. Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander lost the Paisley and Renfrewshire seat he has held for 18 years, while Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran was voted out in the once-safe Labour seat of Glasgow East.
Last night a spokesman for Murphy insisted there was no leadership issue and there were rules in place which any challenger would have to abide by.
“There is no vacancy. Jim is not going to resign,” he said. “As Jim said this morning there is a process in place if somebody wants to put their name forward but they won’t be able to do that until the next annual conference.”
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