IN his acceptance speech after being crowned Scottish Labour leader on Saturday, Anas Sarwar pledged to focus on what unites us as a country rather than what divides us.
His victory was not unexpected but it was historic. Sarwar becomes the first non-white leader of a UK political party, a fact he insists says more about Scotland than him personally. The challenges he faces in shaping his party into a competent political force are many. It was something he acknowledged in his speech and post-win interviews, saying: “We’ve got a mountain to climb to win back the trust of the people of Scotland.
“I want to say directly to the people of Scotland, I know Labour have a lot of work to do to win back your trust. Because if we’re brutally honest, you haven’t had the Scottish Labour Party you deserve. With rising injustice, inequality and division, I’m sorry we haven’t been good enough.’’
There is no doubt that Sarwar is a polished performer – not least when compared to his predecessor, Richard Leonard. In interviews he comes across as cogent and in command of the detail. He does well when talking about Scottish Labour’s failings over recent years, particularly in the way in which he seems to accept the battle ahead is a long one and there are no quick fixes.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour fighting for survival in May's election, Anas Sarwar warns
“One day we will get the Labour Party back to where it belongs’’ he told The Sunday Show’s Martin Geissler, indirectly acknowledging that – with little more than two months to go before the Holyrood election – his chances of turning the tide in time for that are minimal.
With May’s election being trailed – once again – as an election on an independence referendum, we see where Sarwar’s readiness to address Scottish Labour’s failings start to come unstuck. It’s all well and good wanting to focus on what “unites” us, but doing so doesn’t distract anybody from the elephant in the room.
An Ipsos MORI poll published last week showed that the constitutional question is the most important issue to Scottish voters. When asked what issues they considered to be “very important” when deciding which party to support, 44% said independence.
When what “divides” us is how a sizeable number of voters decide which party to lend their support to, Scottish Labour can’t keep hiding away from the issue in the hope that we’ll all suddenly forget it ever mattered to us.
One criticism constantly levelled at Anas Sarwar is how ambitious he is. He didn’t stumble into the top job or accept it because nobody else was willing to step up: he wanted to become Scottish Labour leader and made no secret of the fact. Losing to Richard Leonard in 2017 only made him more determined to win this time around.
READ MORE: SNP's indyref2 war chest piles pressure on Unionist parties and Westminster
To moan about a politician being eager to take the top job betrays a petty mindset, in my view. Especially when it comes from Sarwar’s Labour colleagues. Ambition is exactly what Scottish Labour needs. They don’t need a humble, hesitant leader dragged from the backbenches to serve out of some sense of comradely duty.
When a political party have seen their support wane with every election that passes, a slick operator, hungry for success, can only be a good thing – not least for morale.
The question I think we already know the answer to but needs to be asked anyway is this: will Anas Sarwar’s ambition translate into a radical change of strategy? Now he has reached the top, Sarwar won’t want to be another short-term leader. It’s clear he is already thinking past the Holyrood election and towards the longer-term trajectory of the party.
As a canny politician, he will know the success of his party doesn’t rest on how well he comes across in interviews or how persuasively he can argue Scottish Labour’s case. There will be no return to power for Scottish Labour while the constitutional question remains unasked and unanswered.
With independence at the fore and SNP infighting turning once-enthusiastic SNP supporters into begrudging “only-for-indyref2” voters, there’s a huge calculation to be made for the new Scottish Labour leader.
WATCH: Labour 'sitting on the fence' by refusing to support permanent Universal Credit uplift
If he sticks to the position adopted by his predecessors since the 2014 referendum, of “never” to indyref2, then his ambition for his party will be curtailed by a self-imposed ceiling. The best he can hope for is a return to Scottish Labour becoming the main opposition at Holyrood.
If he exceeds expectations in debates and FMQs, he might win some personal plaudits from commentators who lament the unfairness of such an able politician not getting a fair hearing with voters “only” because he doesn’t support indyref2.
But if Sarwar is in it for the long haul and in it to someday see Scottish Labour become a viable political force once again, then independence is his best bet.
It wouldn’t solve all their problems and would take political as well as personal ambition. We will have to wait and see whether Anas Sarwar has both.
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