Michael Marra
Scottish Labour MSP floated by colleagues as a possible leadership candidate.
Michael Marra became Scottish Labour leader on 19 September 2026 with 4,266 of 6,751 votes, and three days later led all 17 Labour MSPs in backing John Swinney's amended right-to-decide motion.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will Michael Marra enter the Scottish Labour leadership race?
Timeline for Michael Marra
Won the leadership and moved a child-poverty amendment to the motion
UK Local Elections 2026: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decideCleared the parliamentary nomination threshold to reach the leadership ballot
UK Local Elections 2026: Lennon is off the Scottish Labour ballotFloated by colleagues as a possible candidate
UK Local Elections 2026: Scottish Labour opens a contest Sarwar left earlyDeclared as a candidate for the Scottish Labour leadership
UK Local Elections 2026: Three run for Scottish Labour leaderBackground
Michael Marra is a Scottish Labour MSP and, since 19 September 2026, the party’s leader. He won the leadership contest against Joe Fagan by 4,266 votes to 2,485.
Anas Sarwar had stood down on 22 July 2026, taking a seat in the Lords and a job as a UK minister, which opened the contest. Candidates needed backing from MSPs, MPs and affiliated organisations, including trade unions, before they could reach the members’ ballot. Marra cleared that parliamentary gate while Monica Lennon did not secure enough MP support.
As leader, Marra heads Scottish Labour’s parliamentary group and represents the party in Holyrood politics. On 22 September, all 17 Labour MSPs backed John Swinney’s motion on Scotland’s right to decide its future after Labour added its child-poverty goals to the text.
Marra wins Scottish Labour leadership
Marra reached the members' ballot on 17 August with the backing of 24 of the party's MPs, against seven for Joe Fagan. Monica Lennon matched the Holyrood requirement but won only two of the three MPs she needed.
On 19 September he beat Fagan by 4,266 votes to 2,485. "Scots know what we are against," he told members in his acceptance speech, adding that they could not say what the party was for. Three days later his MSPs added a child-poverty amendment to Swinney's right-to-decide motion, carried 91 to 12, and then backed the amended text, carried 84 to 18. The vote does not commit Labour to an independence referendum.
Marra weighs a bid for Labour's leadership
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 7 October 2026. Editorial standards.