Brian Leishman Urges Labour To ‘Rediscover Radicalism’

Key Points

• Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, has called on Scottish Labour to “rediscover” its radicalism.
• Anas Sarwar is standing down as Scottish Labour leader to take a ministerial post in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government.
• Mr Sarwar is expected to move to the House of Lords to take up a role at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
• Scottish Labour recorded its worst-ever Holyrood result in May 2026, returning fewer MSPs than at any point in the party’s history.
• Mr Leishman said he was glad to see Mr Sarwar go, blaming him for “dire” electoral failings.
• North East MSP Michael Marra is reportedly the frontrunner to replace Mr Sarwar, with Monica Lennon also expected to stand.
• First Minister John Swinney has accused Mr Sarwar of an “appalling level of judgement” over the move.
• The departure comes weeks after Sir Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader and as prime minister, with Andy Burnham succeeding him on 20 July 2026.
• Some Scottish Labour figures are again debating whether the party should separate from UK Labour.
• Mr Leishman said voters “do not know” what Scottish Labour stands for and called for a return to the party’s traditional roots.

Edinburgh (Britain Today News) July 23, 2026 – Brian Leishman, the Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, has called on Scottish Labour to abandon what he describes as a “cult of personality” and rediscover its radical roots, as the party braces for a leadership contest following Anas Sarwar’s decision to quit as its leader. Mr Sarwar is standing down from Holyrood to take up a ministerial post in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government, a move that will require him to enter the House of Lords and has triggered an internal row within Scottish Labour over its direction, its electoral record and its relationship with the UK party.

Why has Anas Sarwar decided to step down as Scottish Labour leader?

Anas Sarwar, who has led Scottish Labour since 2021, is preparing to leave Holyrood after it emerged he will take up a ministerial post in the reshaped UK Government led by Andy Burnham. Because a person cannot simultaneously sit as a member of the Scottish Parliament and hold a peerage, Mr Sarwar will be required to stand down as an MSP once he enters the House of Lords, bringing his five-year tenure as Scottish Labour leader to an end and triggering a fresh leadership contest north of the border.

The Glasgow MSP had been considered one of the most prominent figures in Scottish politics and was among the first senior Labour figures to call for Sir Keir Starmer to stand down as UK Labour leader, doing so in February. His own departure now leaves Scottish Labour without a permanent leader at a critical moment, only months after a disappointing Holyrood election result.

What job will Anas Sarwar take in Andy Burnham’s government?

Mr Sarwar is expected to take up a ministerial role at the revamped Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, which is headed by Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds. To do so, he must first be given a peerage and enter the House of Lords, since government ministers who are not already MPs typically sit in the upper chamber. The appointment marks a significant change in direction for Mr Sarwar, who has previously been outspoken in his criticism of the House of Lords as an institution.

In May 2026, when asked directly whether he would ever consider taking a seat in the Lords, Mr Sarwar said “No”, adding that his focus was on becoming First Minister of Scotland. In 2022, he had gone further, arguing that the Lords “must be abolished” and replaced with a body that better reflects the UK’s regions and nations. His decision to now accept a peerage has been seized upon by opponents as evidence of inconsistency.

Why does Brian Leishman say he is glad to see Anas Sarwar go?

Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Leishman did not hold back in his assessment of Mr Sarwar’s record as leader, describing the party’s electoral performance under him as “dire” and saying he was glad to see him leave the role. The Alloa and Grangemouth MP argued that Labour’s underlying support in Scotland has been steadily eroded during Mr Sarwar’s tenure, despite the party’s UK-wide recovery at the 2024 general election.

As reported by Alistair Grant and Rachel Amery of The Scotsman, Mr Leishman said it was “an incontrovertible fact” that Scottish Labour’s political direction “did not cut through” at either the 2021 or the 2026 Holyrood elections. He noted that the party returned its lowest-ever number of MSPs in 2021, only to fall even further behind in 2026. Mr Leishman had previously called on both Mr Sarwar and his deputy, Jackie Baillie, to resign in the immediate aftermath of May’s election result.

What happened in May’s Holyrood election?

May’s Holyrood election proved to be a bruising experience for Scottish Labour, which recorded its worst result in the history of the devolved Parliament. The party’s representation at Holyrood fell to just 17 MSPs, extending a downward trend that began well before Mr Sarwar took charge but which accelerated significantly on his watch. Mr Leishman has argued that the scale of the defeat demands honest reflection within the party rather than a simple change of face at the top.

According to Mr Leishman, cited by The Scotsman, Scottish Labour must undertake “an honest, frank assessment” of why so many voters who once formed part of its core support base no longer back the party. He said he wanted to “get these people back home” by reconnecting with traditional Labour voters who have drifted away in recent years.

Why does Brian Leishman say Labour must ‘rediscover radicalism’?

At the heart of Mr Leishman’s intervention is a call for Scottish Labour to move away from personality-driven politics and refocus on policy substance. He said:

“People should be in no doubt as to whose side we are on and what we would do in government to make their lives better.”

He added that the party

“must reflect and analyse why we have been returning fewer and fewer MSPs in the last two decades and work to become a credible alternative to the SNP.”

The former golf professional, who has built a reputation at Westminster as one of Labour’s more outspoken backbenchers, said the party’s messaging has become muddled. He said:

“Rather than a cult of personality, Scottish Labour must focus on policy. Scots do not know what, or indeed who, we stand for anymore and that must change.”

He went on to argue that the party needs to

“rediscover our radicalism and chart a political direction that is true to the founding values of the party”,

which he said means “redistributing power and wealth across society.”

Speaking separately to The Scotsman, Mr Leishman also took aim at Mr Sarwar’s record for consistency, saying:

“Anas has shifted his views on quite a few things over the years.”

He added that he was “just looking for a Scottish Labour leader to be consistent” going forward.

What did Brian Leishman say about a ‘national wave’ against Keir Starmer?

Mr Leishman has previously made clear that he believes Scottish Labour’s recent electoral gains and losses cannot be separated from the party’s fortunes at a UK level. Asked whether Mr Sarwar and Ms Baillie should stand down, he told BBC Radio Scotland “Absolutely”, and argued that the surge in Labour’s Scottish MP numbers at the 2024 general election, from two to 37, reflected “a national wave” against the Conservative government rather than any particular success of the Scottish leadership. He said the same logic should apply in reverse when assessing responsibility for the party’s Holyrood losses.

He told the broadcaster that the “bold, transformational radicalism was not there” in Scottish Labour’s electoral strategy, warning that without a return to those values the party risks “electoral oblivion” in future contests.

How does Sarwar’s departure link to Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister?

Mr Sarwar’s exit comes in the wake of a turbulent few weeks in UK politics. Sir Keir Starmer announced on 22 June that he would step down as Labour leader after just under two years in office, with his premiership having come under sustained pressure following a series of controversies, including his appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington. Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester who had returned to Parliament in a special election only weeks earlier, secured the backing of 379 of 403 Labour MPs and was declared leader unopposed.

Sir Keir formally tendered his resignation to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Monday 20 July, telling supporters outside Downing Street that “my work is done” before Mr Burnham travelled to the Palace to be invited to form a new government. Mr Sarwar, who had been among the first senior figures to call for Sir Keir’s departure back in February, subsequently praised his successor’s “bold Labour vision” as Mr Burnham entered Number 10.

What has the SNP said about Sarwar’s move to the Lords?

The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the SNP. First Minister John Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland that the move demonstrated “an appalling level of judgement” by Mr Sarwar, pointing out that the Scottish Labour leader had ruled out taking a peerage before May’s election, only to accept one afterwards. Mr Swinney argued this amounted to “an incredible level of hypocrisy”, given Mr Sarwar’s previous calls for the Lords to be abolished.

Mr Swinney went further, suggesting that Mr Burnham’s premiership was supposed to address a broader public frustration with politicians who

“say one thing one minute and then do another thing the next minute”,

but that Mr Sarwar’s move had instead “exacerbated that sentiment within our society.”
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Who could replace Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader?

Attention within the party has already turned to who might succeed Mr Sarwar. North East MSP Michael Marra is understood to be the current frontrunner. Alan Roden, a former director of communications for Scottish Labour, said:

“There will almost certainly be a contest, and the frontrunner is Michael Marra,”

citing his standing among both MSPs and MPs, whose support is needed to meet the 15 per cent nomination threshold within the parliamentary Labour Party.

Monica Lennon, a former leadership contender who is due to enter Holyrood via the regional list system to replace Mr Sarwar, has also been touted as a possible candidate. Speaking to the Daily Record, she declined to rule out standing, saying:

“I am not going to rule myself out of anything right now.”

She added that returning to Parliament to represent Glasgow would be “a huge honour and privilege.”

Some party insiders are said to favour a genuine contest over a swift coronation, in order to allow a fuller debate about the party’s future direction following its poor Holyrood showing.

Could Scottish Labour split from the UK party?

Ms Lennon has previously argued that Scottish Labour should become “a party in our own right”, separate from the UK structure, and that debate has resurfaced since May’s election defeat. However, the idea faces resistance from other MPs. Irene Campbell, the Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, said she did not want Scottish Labour “to be separate from the UK Labour Party”, adding that as “a trade unionist as well”, she believed it was important for the party to “stay together as one big party” built on “solidarity” and “collectivism.”

The renewed debate reflects wider uncertainty within Scottish Labour about how best to rebuild support ahead of the next set of elections, with figures across the party divided over whether structural change or a shift in policy direction offers the best route back to relevance.

What happens next for Scottish Labour?

With Mr Sarwar expected to formally stand down in the coming weeks, Scottish Labour faces a leadership contest at a moment of significant vulnerability, having been reduced to just 17 MSPs and facing renewed competition from the SNP as well as continuing pressure from populist parties. Alan Roden suggested internal disruption over Mr Sarwar’s departure would likely “blow over very quickly”, crediting the outgoing leader with having professionalised the party’s operations even as its Holyrood representation fell.

For MPs such as Brian Leishman, however, the departure represents an opportunity for a more fundamental reset. His call for the party to rediscover its “radicalism” and offer voters clarity about “whose side we are on” is likely to shape the tone of the coming leadership contest, as candidates seek to persuade both party members and the wider Scottish electorate that Labour has learned the lessons of its worst-ever Holyrood result.