Left-wing leader leaves ‘centrists’ to face the electoral consequences of their undermining
Richard Leonard has quit as leader of the Scottish Labour party. He said of his decision:
I have thought long and hard over the Christmas period about what this crisis means, and the approach Scottish Labour takes to help tackle it. I have also considered what the speculation about my leadership does to our ability to get Labour’s message across. This has become a distraction.
However, Labour sources close to Leonard had a one-word answer when asked what had triggered him to choose this moment to go:
Starmer.
It seems that after weathering months of sniping and sabotage by the Labour right, Leonard has decided that there is no prospect of anything improving in the party under its UK leadership and is leaving the Scottish Labour saboteurs to get on with it and face the consequences of their behaviour in a crisis which is certainly well beyond their abilities.
It is not yet known who, if anyone, from the left of the party might wish to grasp that nettle and stand in a leadership contest.
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