A SUSPENDED Scottish Labour MP has claimed party leader Anas Sarwar hasn’t spoken with him in nearly six months.
Brian Leishman was one of four rebel MPs who had the whip removed for voting against benefit cuts and criticising Keir Starmer’s Government.
Sarwar has been silent on the Alloa and Grangemouth MP’s suspension – despite it being a high-profile loss from his branch of the party.
Leishman told The National he had last received a WhatsApp message from the Scottish Labour leader on January 30 – and hasn’t spoken with him face-to-face since before then. He added: “I’ve never had a telephone conversation with him.”
The MP, who made a name for himself fighting unsuccessfully against the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in his constituency, said he was “gutted” to have lost the whip and wants to come back into the fold.
“I love the party,” he said. “I genuinely believe that it is the most likely vehicle to equalise society and redistribute power and wealth.”
Leishman and others voted against Labour’s Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill earlier this month after a chaotic debate in the Commons which saw the Government shelve cuts to the latter benefit at the last minute, in the face of a sizable backbench rebellion organised by York MP Rachael Maskell.
He has also been an outspoken critic of Starmer’s government in the media.
His name is frequently floated as a possible defector to Jeremy Corbyn or Zarah Sultana’s as-yet-unnamed political party.
But Leishman ruled out joining the party, saying: “The personal relationship I’ve got with Zarah and Jeremy, I wish them well in their endeavours with it, they’ve been phenomenal comrades to me. But I just think that the Labour Party is the most likely vehicle to change things and society for the better.”
While he has not received any support from Sarwar, Leishman said he was “really looking forward” to campaigning for [[Scottish Labour]] in Clackmannanshire and Dunblane and the Falkirk East Holyrood constituencies in the 2026 election.
He added: “As a committed Labour member, I will do everything I possibly can to get Anas into Bute House and be first minister.”
Scottish Labour were approached for comment.
