A SCOTTISH Labour councillor has complained to the UK equalities watchdog in the latest twist of the party’s bizarre leadership contest.
Monique Equi, a South Lanarkshire councillor, has written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) over concerns the party’s leadership contest disadvantages women.
She has argued that the processes in place could amount to unlawful discrimination, adding that the contest should be suspended and the nomination thresholds adjusted.
“The parliamentary group comprises ten men and seven women. With a smaller pool of female parliamentarians available to sponsor candidates, setting a dual threshold of three MPs and three MSPs disproportionately restricts access for female candidates and reinforces established male networks,” she told the Scottish Daily Mail.
“Internal rules must not create unjustifiable barriers for protected groups.”
To get on the ballot, candidates have to secure backing from three MPs, three MSPs and three affiliates, two of whom must be trade unions.
With just seven days to go (the ballot for nominations closes on August 17), none of the three contenders who have put themselves forward – Monica Lennon, Michael Marra and Joe Fagan – has managed to reach that high bar.
Marra and Fagan have managed to get backing from parliamentarians in Holyrood and Westminster; Marra has been nominated by six MSPs, and seven MPs, while Fagan has five MSPs and three MPs backing him.
Lennon is struggling to reach that threshold, with two MSPs and two MPs nominating her, but has also secured the support of Unison Labour link.
Neither Marra nor Fagan have managed to get the backing of the required affiliates, according to Scottish Labour’s website at time of writing.
It has been suggested that Marra – previously touted as Sarwar’s heir apparent – could struggle with getting unions on board, despite his support among parliamentarians.
If Lennon fails to get one more MP and one more MSP on board, then it looks like a Fagan coronation could be on the cards – that is if he gets three affiliates to back him of course.
Lennon alluded to this in a recent comment piece in the Daily Record, where she wrote: “Some within our parliamentary ranks have already decided they want a coronation, not a contest.
“In contrast, our members, councillors, affiliated trade unions, and socialist societies deserve a full, honest debate where every candidate is put under the microscope.”
She described the contest as finding the party’s “missing soul”.
Joani Reid, who was readmitted to the Labour Party earlier this month after suspending herself pending an investigation, has come out in support of Fagan, also in the Daily Record.
“Joe understands that because he has never been absorbed into the Holyrood bubble,” she wrote of the former council leader, now MSP.
“His politics were formed in East Kilbride and local government. He listens properly, knows his own mind and is comfortable with people who don’t spend their lives talking about politics.”
Fagan has also gathered the support of Lord Anas Sarwar’s former spin doctor, Oliver Milne, who is reportedly working on his campaign.
The Labour Party machine seems intent on making sure that there is no public contest to further damage its reputation, following a record breaking defeat at the last Holyrood election.
Rather than introspection, and allowing a public debate between members, it appears as if the party is intent on putting up as many barriers as it can to make sure it gets the result that those at the top want.
That approach will only spell disaster, and won’t do anything to endear an already failing Scottish Labour to the electorate, its members, or even its own politicians.
If Fagan wins uncontested and is swept into the job leading the party it will signal that Scottish Labour has accepted its role as a minor party in Holyrood, consigning itself to the inevitable in the next five years; complete irrelevance.
