Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

Head of the Scottish Labour Party

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

Incumbent
Anas Sarwar

since 27 February 2021

Member of|

* Scottish Parliament (since 1999)
* Parliament of the United Kingdom (since 2011)
* Local government in Scotland (since 2011)

Inaugural holder| Donald Dewar
Formation| 7 May 1999
Deputy| Jackie Baillie

The office of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party was established when the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999 and prior to its inaugural election. Until the Murphy and Boyack review in 2011, the office was Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament and restricted to members of the Scottish Parliament. Since the review, the office has been opened up to all elected Scottish Labour politicians, including those involved in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and local government.

## List

[edit]

No.  | Image  | Name  | Term start  | Term end  | Source

|
|
|
|
|

1 |  | Donald Dewar | 7 May 1999  | 11 October 2000  | [1]
2 |  | Henry McLeish | 27 October 2000[a] | 8 November 2001  | [2]
― |  | Cathy Jamieson | 8 November 2001  | 22 November 2001  | [3]
3 |  | Jack McConnell | 22 November 2001  | 15 August 2007  | [4]
― |  | Cathy Jamieson | 15 August 2007 | 14 September 2007 | [3]
4 |  | Wendy Alexander | 14 September 2007  | 28 June 2008  | [5]
― |  | Cathy Jamieson | 28 June 2008  | 13 September 2008  | [3]
5 |  | Iain Gray | 13 September 2008  | 17 December 2011  | [6]
6 |  | Johann Lamont | 17 December 2011  | 24 October 2014  | [7]
— |  | Anas Sarwar | 24 October 2014  | 13 December 2014  | [3]
7 |  | Jim Murphy
(as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party) | 13 December 2014  | 13 June 2015  | [8]
| Kezia Dugdale
(as Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament)
– |  | Iain Gray | 13 June 2015  | 15 August 2015  | [9]
8 |  | Kezia Dugdale | 15 August 2015  | 29 August 2017  | [10]
― |  | Alex Rowley | 29 August 2017  | 15 November 2017  | [11][12]
―  |  | Jackie Baillie | 15 November 2017  | 18 November 2017  | [3]
9 |  | Richard Leonard | 18 November 2017  | 14 January 2021  | [13]
– |  | Jackie Baillie | 14 January 2021  | 27 February 2021  | [3]
10  |  | Anas Sarwar | 27 February 2021  | Incumbent | [14]

## Timeline

[edit]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Acting: 11 October 2000 – 27 October 2000

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Donald Dewar". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
2. ^ "Henry McLeish". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
3. ^ a b c d e f As deputy leader at the time of a leadership election.
4. ^ McConnell quits Labour leadership Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 15 August 2007.
5. ^ "Wendy Alexander". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
6. ^ "Gray becomes Scots Labour leader". bbc.co.uk. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
7. ^ "Johann Lamont named new Scottish Labour leader". BBC News. 17 December 2011.
8. ^ "MP Jim Murphy named Scottish Labour leader". BBC News. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
9. ^ "Scottish Labour agree to swathe of party reforms – and new leader will be announced on August 15th". LabourList. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
10. ^ "Kezia Dugdale". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
11. ^ "Kezia Dugdale quits as Scottish Labour leader". 29 August 2017 - via www.bbc.co.uk.
12. ^ "Alex Rowley steps down as interim Scottish Labour leader". Holyrood Website. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
13. ^ "Richard Leonard to lead Scottish Labour". BBC News. 18 November 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
14. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (2021-02-27). "Anas Sarwar elected as new leader of Scottish Labour Party". LabourList. Retrieved 2021-02-27.

* v
* t
* e

Scottish Labour

Leaders|

* Donald Dewar (1999–2000)
* Henry McLeish (2000–2001)
* Jack McConnell (2001–2007)
* Wendy Alexander (2007–2008)
* Iain Gray (2008–2011)
* Johann Lamont (2011–2014)
* Jim Murphy (2014–2015)
* Kezia Dugdale (2015–2017)
* Richard Leonard (2017–2021)
* Anas Sarwar (2021–present)

Deputy leaders|

* Henry McLeish (1999–2000)
* Cathy Jamieson (2000–2008)
* Johann Lamont (2008–2011)
* Anas Sarwar (2011–2014)
* Kezia Dugdale (2014–2015)
* Alex Rowley (2015–2017)
* Lesley Laird (2017–2019)
* Jackie Baillie (2020–present)

General secretaries|

* Ben Shaw (1914–1931)
* Arthur Woodburn (1932–1939)
* John Taylor (1939–1951)
* Willie Marshall (1951–1977)
* Helen Liddell (1977–1988)
* Murray Elder (1988–1992)
* Jack McConnell (1992–1998)
* Alex Rowley (1998–1999)
* Lesley Quinn (1999–2008)
* Colin Smyth (2008–2013)
* Ian Price (2013–2014)
* Brian Roy (2014–2019)
* Michael Sharpe (2019–2020)
* Drew Smith (2020–2021)
* James Kelly (2021–2023)
* John Paul McHugh (2023–present)

Current MSPs|

* Jackie Baillie
* Claire Baker
* Neil Bibby
* Sarah Boyack
* Foysol Choudhury
* Katy Clark
* Pam Duncan-Glancy
* Rhoda Grant
* Mark Griffin
* Daniel Johnson
* Monica Lennon
* Richard Leonard
* Michael Marra
* Pauline McNeill
* Carol Mochan
* Paul O'Kane
* Alex Rowley
* Anas Sarwar
* Colin Smyth
* Paul Sweeney
* Mercedes Villalba
* Martin Whitfield

Current MPs|

* Zubir Ahmed
* Douglas Alexander
* Scott Arthur
* Johanna Baxter
* Maureen Burke
* Irene Campbell
* Torcuil Crichton
* Graeme Downie
* Patricia Ferguson
* Alan Gemmell
* Tracy Gilbert
* John Grady
* Lillian Jones
* Chris Kane
* Brian Leishman
* Douglas McAllister
* Martin McCluskey
* Blair McDougall
* Gordon McKee
* Frank McNally
* Kirsty McNeill
* Chris Murray
* Ian Murray
* Katrina Murray
* Pamela Nash
* Gregor Poynton
* Joani Reid
* Martin Rhodes
* Michael Shanks
* Euan Stainbank
* Kenneth Stevenson
* Elaine Stewart
* Kirsteen Sullivan
* Alison Taylor
* Imogen Walker
* Melanie Ward

Organisation|

* Scottish Executive Committee
* Scottish Labour Conference
* Scottish Policy Forum
* Scottish Labour Students
* Scottish Young Labour
* Campaign for Socialism

Scottish governments|

* Dewar (1999–2000)
* McLeish (2000–2001)
* 1st McConnell (2001–2003)
* 2nd McConnell (2003–2007)

Leadership elections|

* 1999 Dewar
* 2000 McLeish
* 2001 McConnell
* 2007 Alexander
* 2008 Gray
* 2011 Lamont
* 2014 Murphy
* 2015 Dugdale
* 2017 Leonard
* 2021 Sarwar

Deputy leadership elections|

* 2000 Jamieson
* 2008 Lamont
* 2011 Sarwar
* 2014 Dugdale
* 2015 Rowley
* 2018 Laird
* 2020 Baillie

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template