Scottish Labour
Labour's Scottish devolved branch; won 17 Holyrood seats in 2026, tying Reform UK as joint second-largest party.
Michael Marra became Scottish Labour leader on 19 September 2026, beating Joe Fagan by 4,266 votes to 2,485. Three days later all 17 of the party's MSPs backed John Swinney's right-to-decide motion after amending it.
Last refreshed: 7 October 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
Voted with all 17 MSPs for the right-to-decide motion
UK Local Elections 2026: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decideClosed 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 leadership contest the three candidates entered
UK Local Elections 2026: Three run for Scottish Labour leaderRan the nomination process Lennon accused of misogyny
UK Local Elections 2026: Lennon accuses her party of misogynyBackground
Scottish Labour is the Scottish party of the UK Labour Party. It contests Holyrood, Westminster and council elections in Scotland and supports Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom.
It holds 17 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament after the election of 7 May 2026. Michael Marra has led it since 19 September 2026, succeeding Anas Sarwar. Its MSPs backed the right-to-decide motion of 22 September only after adding their own child-poverty text, and the motion does not commit the party to a referendum.
The party's Westminster MPs heard Andy Burnham, before he became prime minister, rule out a Section 30 order at a meeting on 7 July 2026, offering enhanced devolution instead.
Marra wins the leadership
Anas Sarwar quit as leader on 22 July 2026 for a life peerage and a UK ministerial POST, and nominations opened on 3 August. When they closed on 17 August, Michael Marra had 24 MP and 7 MSP nominations and Joe Fagan 7 and 5. Monica Lennon, one MP nomination short, missed the ballot.
Marra, an MSP for North East Scotland, won the members' ballot on 19 September with 4,266 of 6,751 votes. "Scots know what we are against. They can't tell you what we are for," he said in his acceptance speech.
Labour ties Reform at Holyrood
At the Holyrood election of 7 May 2026 Scottish Labour won 17 of the 129 seats, level with Reform UK, which entered the Scottish Parliament for the first time. The Scottish Conservatives fell to 12 and now rank fourth by group size, behind Reform, Labour and the Scottish Greens. Group size governs speaking allocations at First Minister's Questions, opposition debate days and committee chairs.
On 22 September Labour's MSPs first carried Marra's amendment, making child poverty "an immediate national priority", by 91 votes to 12. They then voted with the SNP and Greens for the amended motion, which passed 84 to 18 and does not commit the party to an independence referendum.