Scottish Labour opened nominations for its leadership on 3 August 2026, closing on 17 August, with a members' ballot from 28 August to 17 September if more than one candidate qualifies and the result declared on 19 September1. Anas Sarwar resigned on 22 July, leaving the Scottish Parliament for a life peerage and the post of Minister of State for Trade in Andy Burnham's government.
Jackie Baillie holds the leadership on a caretaker basis and has ruled herself out of standing. Monica Lennon has indicated she will run. Michael Marra has been floated by colleagues, and Daniel Johnson has ruled himself out. Keith Brown, deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, called the peerage arrangement "the most undemocratic trick in the Westminster book"2.
Sarwar led the party to 17 Holyrood seats in May, its worst showing of the devolved era, and was gone ten weeks later to a chamber no voter fills. Burnham built his pitch on moving power out of London, and has already ruled out an early Scottish constitutional vote. His trade brief now sits with a departing Scottish party leader who will not face a Scottish electorate again.
That leaves a practical gap. Until 19 September, Scottish Labour cannot answer the SNP's attack with a leader of its own choosing, and any candidate who wants the job must argue for a party whose Westminster parent supplied the exit route being complained about.
