Scottish Labour
Labour's Scottish devolved branch; won 17 Holyrood seats in 2026, tying Reform UK as joint second-largest party.
Scottish Labour opened nominations on 3 August to replace Anas Sarwar, who quit as leader on 22 July 2026 for a life peerage and a UK ministerial post, less than three months after the party tied Reform UK for second place at Holyrood.
Last refreshed: 3 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Scottish Labour hold its second-place Holyrood position against Reform UK without winning a single constituency?
Timeline for Scottish Labour
Closed leadership nominations under its three-MSP, three-MP, three-affiliate threshold
UK Local Elections 2026: Lennon is off the Scottish Labour ballotOpened nominations to replace Anas Sarwar
UK Local Elections 2026: Scottish Labour opens a contest Sarwar left earlyRan the nomination process Lennon accused of misogyny
UK Local Elections 2026: Lennon accuses her party of misogynyRan the leadership contest the three candidates entered
UK Local Elections 2026: Three run for Scottish Labour leaderMentioned in: Burnham rules out a Scottish vote
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Scottish Labour is the devolved branch of the UK Labour Party operating within Scotland. After a catastrophic collapse in the 2015 UK general election, when the party lost 40 of its 41 Scottish Westminster seats, and subsequent Holyrood defeats, the party rebuilt under Anas Sarwar, an experienced Holyrood politician who became leader in 2021 and led it into the 2026 Holyrood contest. It campaigns on a social-democratic platform distinct from the SNP's constitutional focus and the Conservatives' unionist economics.
The party's 17-seat Holyrood position from May 2026 remains structurally fragile: with every seat coming from the regional list, Scottish Labour has no direct constituency mandate anywhere in Scotland, a weakness its next leader inherits directly from Sarwar's sudden departure.
Sarwar quits weeks after the Holyrood tie
Scottish Labour won 17 Holyrood seats on 7 May 2026, tying with Reform UK as the joint second-largest party and displacing the Scottish Conservatives from the opposition benches they had held since 2016. Every seat came from the regional list rather than a constituency win, leaving Anas Sarwar's party without a direct constituency mandate anywhere in Scotland despite the symbolic recovery.
Sarwar resigned as leader on 22 July 2026 for a life peerage and a UK ministerial post. Scottish Labour opened nominations to replace him on 3 August, closing 17 August; Monica Lennon has said she will stand, with a contested race running to a 19 September result.