As we head towards the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, one party leader has a particularly unenviable job: step forward Anas Sarwar. Only a couple of months ago the Scottish Labour leader was calling for the party’s national leader, Sir Keir Starmer, to step down. Now he has to convince the Scottish electorate to put his party in charge north of the border.
Speaking to Michael Gove on the Quite Right! podcast, Sarwar did not say he had any regrets. Asked if it was the right thing to call for Starmer to resign, he responded that:
‘I think honesty is always the best policy… I’ve got to look people in the eye over the course of the next six weeks in Scotland and ask them to put their faith and trust in me. And people in Scotland have a right to know what my values are, what my standards are, what I’m willing to accept and what I would do differently… It’s always been about what it means for Scotland and that’s my first priority.’
Sarwar also revealed that he didn’t just speak to Wes Streeting ahead of calling for Starmer to go, but several members of the Labour cabinet – although he didn’t tell them of his intentions. Oh to be a fly on the wall during those conversations…
Listen to the episode here.
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