RICHARD Leonard’s leadership of Scottish Labour has been “undermined” after a key ally was ousted from a top job on the party’s ruling body.
Veteran left-winger Mary Fee lost her place on the Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) after she was challenged for the role by moderate Jackie Baillie.
It’s the latest salvo in the Holyrood party’s increasingly bitter civil war. At a heated meeting of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group, MSPs voted by 13 to 10 to put Baillie on the SEC as their representative.
Baillie’s move against Fee comes eight months after Leonard sacked her as his economy spokeswoman. She had been told of the decision over the phone just five minutes before it was announced to press in a statement.
Earlier this month, Leonard lost another key ally, when Neil Findlay quit his frontbench post.
READ MORE: Sturgeon urges Labour to 'see the light' and back indyref2
He’d been responsible for the disastrous European election campaign that saw the party slump to fifth place, its worst result since 1910.
Labour secured just 9% of the vote and lost both of its MEPs.
Findlay took to Twitter to express his fury at the SEC shenanigans: “I am absolutely disgusted that @MaryFeeMSP has been removed as Scottish Labour group chair.”
The Campaign for Socialism called it a “pointless and petty distraction from Labour politics designed to undermine Richard Leonard”.
But a moderate Labour source told The Herald : “This was simply about capitalising on Jackie’s expertise as a proven election winner with the Holyrood elections on the horizon and absolutely nothing to do with factionalism.
READ MORE: Labour MP doesn't care about how party does in Scotland
“It should have been a smooth transition, but the leadership shamefully insisted on making Mary stand even though they knew she wouldn’t win, allowing Neil Findlay to pick another pointless internal fight.”
Earlier this month, Leonard told the Herald on Sunday that he had “no intention of stepping down” and would lead the party into the next election.
Scottish Labour declined to comment on Baillie’s appointment.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel