Daniel Johnson: Time is running out for Scottish Labour

“Time really is running out” for Scottish Labour after this year’s election defeat, a senior MSP has said.

The party suffered its worst Holyrood result in May and is set for new leadership after Anas Sarwar accepted a position in Andy Burnham’s government.

Daniel Johnson, tipped as a potential successor to Sarwar, has said the party now faces “existential questions” about its purpose.

The Edinburgh Southern MSP has said the failure to differentiate the Scottish and UK arms of the party is the “main existential conundrum”.

However, he said splitting the Scottish party from the UK operation is not the answer – because the party must work out who it is for because “the mythical traditional workers from industrial Scotland are gone”.

He said: “Now is not a time for egos or personalities. It is for asking who are we, who are we for, what do we want to do, and how are we going to do it.

“It is never going to be enough just pointing to the faults of the SNP. It is not enough to explain why we should win. We must demonstrate how and why we can do better.”

Johnson – Scottish Labour’s economy spokesperson – has been an MSP since 2016 and has seen his party lose three successive elections.

Writing in the Daily Record, he said “this time is different” because “for the first time since 2007 we thought we could win”.

That sentiment follows the 2024 general election in which Labour recaptured seats that had been lost to the SNP.

He said: “Despite rebranding, a strong leader, and picking fights with UK leadership, we suffered from the UK Government’s unpopularity rather than being judged on our own terms.

“Even if outright victory was impossible in those circumstances, why couldn't we add even half a dozen seats to our relatively low 2021 tally?

“For some there are simplistic structural answers – a split from UK Labour and a new party. But form before function runs the risk of missing the fundamental question of who our party is for, what our plan is and how we tell people what we are doing.

“I am of the view that the structure should be looked at but only once we have answered the more fundamental questions and only if we demonstrate if and how a new structure serves to advance that analysis.

“Unlike the UK party, Scottish Labour has never done the soul-searching required to rebuild and win. Keir Starmer’s leadership victory was built on an unflinching reassessment of who abandoned Labour, recognising that ‘traditional’ ‘red wall’ voters rejected metropolitan virtue politics, which led to a focus on patriotism, service, workers' rights, and housing.

“Scottish Labour has failed to confront who our voters are, what motivates them, and how to win them over.”

The comments come after former first minister Jack McConnell – the last Labour MSP in Bute House – called for a wholesale review of what went wrong for Scottish Labour in May.

Polling consistently showed the party trailing the SNP as voting day neared, but Labour insisted it could win.

However, Sarwar conceded defeat on the morning of results day, with just a fraction of seats declared.

He initially said he would stay on as leader, but has now been appointed as trade minister by new PM Burnham and will leave Holyrood to enter the Lords.

A timetable for the leadership contest has not yet been set out.

However, former MSP Monica Lennon has launched a leadership bid, saying her party risks “oblivion” without “radical and fast change”.

Lennon came second to Sarwar in the last leadership race and missed out on a seat in May. She is expected to re-enter parliament in his stead as a new Glasgow regional MSP.

Lennon said: “I’ve spoken with members and voters who feel disappointed, disillusioned, and defeated.

“I’ve heard their frustration – but I’ve also felt a quiet, burning determination. Crisis demands courage.”