SCOTTISH Labour have been accused of blocking left-wing MSPs from standing for election at Holyrood.
Jackie Baillie, the party's deputy leader, was accused of wielding "absolute power" in her role as chair of a Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) sub-committee, the party's governing body.
MSP Monica Lennon, who challenged Sarwar for party leader in 2021, is reportedly being left "without a route" to stand for re-election, with her seen as out of favour with the leadership, the Scotsman reports.
The party has chosen Davy Russell as their candidate for the by-election taking place on June 5.
A party source told the Scotsman: “Monica isn't sure if she will be able to stand next year. At the moment she still wants to stand, but she's not a candidate.
“There wasn't really a route for her to put herself forward for the by-election in the seat she was the candidate in 2021. It would have involved her resigning from Parliament.
“If Davy wins, he will be the candidate next time. If he doesn't win, I think there's a good chance he'll still be the candidate next time. If there hadn't been a by-election, I think there would have been a pretty good chance Monica would have been the candidate for Hamilton. That looks like that's off the table now.
“There's a (SEC) sub-committee that deals with selections. But it's basically Jackie Baillie that decides selection stuff. Monica is pretty much at the stage that whatever will come will be.”
It is understood that Lennon, alongside several other sitting MSPs thought to include Sarah Boyack and Foysol Choudhury, are yet to clear the selection process chaired by Baillie.
Insiders also pointed to an alleged move to favour Michael Marra – the party's finance spokesperson – as the replacement for Anas Sarwar should the party suffer defeat in next year's election.
A separate Scottish Labour source told The Scotsman that Baillie, who heads up the SEC sub-committee which selects candidates, "controls everything".
They said: "The way it works is that the party's important business such as selections, election campaigns and appointments to senior party jobs etc are run by sub-committees of the Scottish Executive Committee, and they are always chaired by Jackie Baillie.
“Jackie controls everything. Being deputy leader instead of leader insulates her from taking responsibility for things and in practice allows for absolute power.
“As with other constituencies, the selections for Dundee City East and Dundee City West were to be twinned. Mysteriously, the Labour Party's Scottish Executive Committee reversed their initial decision and have un-twinned the constituencies.
“The selections have instead run separately and concurrently, meaning that if a candidate applied for Dundee City West they could not be the candidate for Dundee City East whereas if the constituencies were twinned they would."
SNP MSP Rona Mackay accused Scottish Labour of "infighting", as she said: "While Labour’s establishment are busy infighting over Anas Sarwar’s replacement before a single vote has even been cast in next year’s election, the SNP is focused on delivering in government and on earning the support of Scottish voters."
The claims against Baillie were branded as "sour grapes" by a senior Scottish Labour source.
The party also insisted that because only three people stood for the two Dundee seats – Marra, Villalba and Ann Cruickshank – it was impossible to run the selections concurrently as it would have meant that Marra would have won the male list by default and therefore would have been selected unopposed.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “Labour candidates are selected by the votes of local members who select the person they believe should represent them.
“All selections are carried out in line with rules and procedures agreed and overseen by Scottish Labour’s Executive Committee.”
