Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador in December 2024 has come under significant criticism following the Department of Justice’s recent release of the Epstein files.
The controversy has prompted multiple calls for Starmer’s resignation, the most senior coming from Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland.
Calling an emergency news conference on the 9th of February, Sarwar stated that, “the distraction needs to end. The leadership in Downing Street has to change.” But, just as his speech was beginning to attract significant attention from the public and the media, Labour cabinet ministers and MPs chose to rally behind Starmer in support.
It can be argued that Sarwar’s call for Starmer’s resignation extends beyond accountability. His attempt to distance the Scottish Labour Party from the mess of Downing Street appears to be an attempt to regain support in the opinion polls, which currently illustrate that he is only backed by a mere 18% of the Scottish public. In addition to this, Sarwar’s “disloyalty” has been criticised by the Starmer-supporting MPs, with his denunciation of the Prime Minister running deeper than the recent Mandelson scandal.
But with the Holyrood elections looming, was this political gamble worth the risk?
Despite the Scottish political landscape functioning in an entirely different entity, Sarwar’s Labour party is still greatly affected by the choices that are made in Westminster, and as the election in May grows closer, Sarwar must do everything he can to strengthen his position.
The SNP’s internal party divisions and the unfolding of the party finance scandals in the run up to the UK General Election resulted in Labour sweeping up 37 seats, whilst the SNP’s lost 39 seats. But, despite this huge victory in 2024, the dwindling opinion of the Labour party in Scotland has been occurring since Labour became the governing party in the UK in 2024.
Perhaps Sarwar hoped that his speech would effectively distance himself in time for the election, but it has just opened a divide within the party. Regional MSP for Central Scotland, Monica Lennon, has critiqued the ongoing internal resignations, asking: “when will the Prime Minister take responsibility for his moral choices; when he has run out of advisers and officials to blame?” On the other hand, the energy minister Michael Shanks has asked his colleagues to “stay focused” instead of looking inwardly at ourselves.
It was clear that Sarwar’s speech did not have the intended effect, as Starmer reassured his peers that he “is not prepared to walk away.” He warned his MPs at a meeting that “I have won every fight I’ve ever been in.”
Instead of turning the attention down to England and onto Starmer, Sarwar’s speech has shone a light on the internal controversy surrounding the newly-suspended Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy and her affiliation with the sex offender and ex-councillor, Sean Morton. Despite Morton’s conviction for sexual offences in 2017, it is reported that Duncan-Glancy maintained a relationship with Morton after his conviction, which she now accepts as a “serious error of personal judgment.”
Alongside Duncan-Glancy, Lord Doyle, Starmer’s former director of communications, has also been suspended from the Labour party over his links to Morton. In response to Duncan-Glancy’s suspension, Sarwar stated that Duncan-Glancy was “just wrong”; if “someone is a convicted paedophile, they deserve to be shunned, they don’t deserve friendship or loyalty.”
Despite 52% of voters agreeing with Sarwar’s call for Starmer’s resignation, the looming threat of the Holyrood elections and the current controversy enveloping Labour puts immense pressure on Sarwar’s chances of becoming First Minister.
It appears that Sarwar’s political gamble might be too late. In recent months Sarwar has faced reproval from the SNP, with the deputy leader Keith Brown claiming that Sarwar’s recent criticism of Starmer and his attempt to distance himself from Westminster is just “blatant opportunism.” Brown continued, claiming that Sarwar “has failed to stand up for Scotland once during the last 19 months- letting down our pensioners, WASPI women, and workers at Grangemouth and in the North Sea.”
With Reform UK now emerging at second place in the ‘voting intention’ polls, Sarwar claims that Scotland cannot “risk a third decade of the SNP in power.” Whilst Sarwar and his supporters believe that Starmer’s continued leadership could be detrimental to the success of the Labour Party in the Holyrood elections, it can be argued that the chaos of a new leadership election would be equally as damaging.
Despite the Scottish minister’s speech, Starmer responded claiming he still holds “huge respect” for Sarwar and has promised his “100%” in backing the Scottish Labour leader.
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