A former Scottish Labour MSP seen as a potential successor to Anas Sarwar has said she will not rule out standing for the party leadership.
Monica Lennon lost her seat at the Holyrood election in May but will return to Parliament when the Scottish Labour leader leaves.
Mr Sarwar is expected to leave the Scottish Parliament to join the House of Lords as a minister in Andy Burnham’s government.
Ms Lennon ran for the leadership in 2021 but lost to Mr Sarwar.
Because she is next on the Glasgow region list, she would be offered a seat as an MSP if Mr Sarwar steps down.
Speaking to the Daily Record’s Planet Holyrood podcast, the former politician confirmed she would take up a seat as an MSP when Mr Sarwar quits.
“It would be a huge honour and privilege to go back to Parliament and serve as a member for Glasgow,” she said.
“If I had the opportunity to go back to Parliament, I would absolutely welcome that.”
Speaking about a leadership contest when Mr Sarwar goes, she added: “I am not going to rule myself out of anything right now.
“I want to respect other colleagues and hear what they have to say.”
Ms Lennon told the newspaper she had “unfinished business” at Holyrood.
Labour MSPs Michael Marra and Paul Sweeney are seen as other potential leadership rivals.
Mr Sarwar is expected to be appointed to the House of Lords and become a minister in the expanded Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
Ms Lennon said Mr Sarwar deserved “huge credit” as leader as she blamed former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer as the “main barrier” to success for her party in May.
She said: “As we have seen, when things were going well for Keir Starmer at the election, there was a benefit for Scottish Labour.
“When things are going badly, it all turns to disaster literally overnight.
“How do you protect any organisation, in this case a political party, when different parts of the organisation are not doing so well?”
Ms Lennon added: “The next phase for Scottish Labour needs to be getting back to reasserting who Scottish Labour is for, why we even exist and who it is we are trying to help.”
She said Labour’s Holyrood manifesto should have had a “bolder articulation of who we stand up for”.
