Scottish Labour lose almost 5,000 members in just ONE year

All 73 local Labour groups saw a drop in membership that leaves the political party with around 20% less members than a year ago.

The Eastwood constituency in particular saw a plunge of nearly 40%.

According to the Herald on Sunday which published the data, sources within the Labour party have pointed to the party's stance on Brexit and its mishandling of antisemitism allegations as reasons for the exodus.

READ MORE: How many Scottish Labour members did your area lose in one year?

Another source claims that hundreds of members who signed up to support Anas Sarwar's failed leadership bid in 2017 left the party following Richard Leonard's election.

Leonard is the ninth party leader for Scottish Labour, but this latest revelation shows just how much pressure he is under.

Digging into the membership figures, it has been revealed that membership dropped from 25,836 in January 2018, to 21,162 as of the same month in 2019. That's a loss of 4,674 under Leonard's watch.

It's understood that some members are in arrears, while in the former Labour stronghold of Glasgow the party lost over 1,500 members in just a year.

According to the Herald on Sunday, an insider said: “Every Labour MSP knows at least one long-serving activist who has quit in disgust at our ambivalence about Brexit or our toleration of racism.

“The numbers are staggering, but what’s particularly worrying is the kind of people who are quitting – members who have grown up in the Labour family and devoted their entire lives to our cause and trying to get Labour into power.

“In the rest of the UK they’re being replaced by Trotskyist entryists who are part of the Corbyn cult, but in Scotland we’re just in freefall. Over a year into his leadership, there’s deep frustration at Richard’s complete inability to build on the party’s recovery. This is a damning verdict on the state of the Labour Party today.”

The party has faced a number of high-profile resignations recently, such as Susan Dalgety, Tom Harris and Will Little.

SNP MP Kirsty Blackman

Responding to the revelation, SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said: “Labour are on the path to terminal decline and total irrelevance in Scotland. No one will be surprised that their toxic support for Tory plans to drag Scotland out of the EU against our will has led to a mass exodus of party members right across the country.

“If Labour continue to facilitate Brexit they will be just as culpable as the Tories for the devastating impact on Scottish jobs and living standards. They will never be forgiven for the lasting harm Brexit will inflict on Scottish people’s livelihoods, our economy and public services.

“Labour members are clearly just as fed up as voters are with the party, which continues to side with the Tories and carp from the sidelines of Scottish politics, with no credibility."

A Scottish Labour source said: “Membership of Scottish Labour has almost doubled since the independence referendum and new members are joining the Party every day. We are committed to tackling antisemitism in all its forms wherever it arises, in our Party and wider society.”

READ MORE: How many Scottish Labour members did your area lose in one year?

A Scottish Tories spokesperson said: “It is no surprise to hear that Labour members across the country are deserting the party in droves.

“Labour is too weak to stand up to the SNP - and voters can see that it is only the Scottish Conservatives that can take on the Nationalists and win.

“These figures would also suggest that the abject failure by Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Leonard to stamp out anti-semitism is also alienating many former supporters in places like Eastwood.”