SENIOR Scottish Labour officials have hit out at Anas Sarwar amid reports he is set to stand down to become a minister in Andy Burnham's government.
It would mean the Scottish Labour leader would have to leave the Scottish Parliament and take up a seat in the House of Lords – a move he ruled out just two days before May’s Holyrood election.
Lauren Harper – who sits on the Scottish Executive Committee (SEC), Scottish Labour's governing body – told The National that the decision was “shameful”, particularly given the ongoing internal review on the recent Scottish elections, which saw the party achieve its worst ever result.
“Anas Sarwar has consistently failed Scottish Labour and its members,” she said.
“While I am happy to see the back of him as leader, it is a sad reflection on where we are as a party that he has been rewarded for five years of failure with a seat in the House of Lords.”
Meanwhile, another member of the SEC – who wished to remain anonymous – told The National that Sarwar was a “convenient vehicle” for those who wished to oust his predecessor Richard Leonard as leader.
“His failure as leader has a lot to do with stubborn denial of the facts and polls which showed that the vague policy platform and continued obsession with hammering the left of the party was not cutting through with voters,” they added.
“He leaves behind not only a smaller group in Holyrood but a party which struggled to build enthusiasm amongst members to campaign.”
The senior Scottish Labour official added that the “chance to turn a new page” with an independent review of the election was thrown away “no doubt due to a fear of the whole disastrous project being exposed”.
They went on: “The question for Scottish Labour members is not which personality should be the next leader but how Scottish Labour can survive.
"We need serious politicians for serious challenges and journalists as well as members should look beyond those who brief and plot.”
Sarwar was seen in the audience as Burnham delivered his first speech as Prime Minister on Monday and has stayed in London as the Cabinet is announced.
Sarwar is set to become a UK Government business minister and will be given a life peerage, according to reports.
He was re-elected as a Glasgow MSP in May, but parliamentarians in Scotland are banned from holding dual mandates in both Holyrood and Westminster.
Sarwar would therefore be required to resign as a regional MSP and take up a seat in the House of Lords.
He strongly refuted suggestions he would accept a peerage back in May before Scottish Labour suffered their worst-ever result at a Scottish Parliament election.
When asked at the time if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords, Sarwar replied: “No, I'm focused on being First Minister of this great country.”
Sarwar resigning from Holyrood will mean that the left-wing candidate he defeated in the previous Scottish Labour leadership election, Monica Lennon, automatically becomes an MSP on the Glasgow list.
He was one of the first in Labour's ranks to call for Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister over the Peter Mandelson row.
