When Alex Rowley took over from Kezia Dugdale, albeit as acting leader of Scottish Labour yesterday morning, he technically became the eleventh person to lead his party in Scotland.
Donald Dewar, the first First Minister of Scotland, and father of devolution, took charge of what was effectively Scottish Labour and our fledgling parliament after the party won the first Scottish elections in May 1999. He held that position until his death in October 2000.
After Dewar’s death Henry McLeish became temporary leader and then beat Jack McConnell to lead the party permanently, until he was forced to resign in disgrace in November 2001 over the Officegate scandal.
Cathy Jamieson, then took over as acting leader, the first of three stints temporarily holding the fort.
Jack McConnell beat Wendy Alexander to become First Minister, holding on to the job until the SNP beat Labour in the May 2007 Holyrood election. He remains by some considerable distance the party’s longest lasting leader.
Cathy Jamieson came back for stint two.
Wendy Alexander then ran, unopposed, to became the next leader in September 2007. Her reign lasted until June 2008 when she resigned in disgrace over a £950 impermissible donation from tax exile Paul Green.
Cathy Jamieson led the party temporarily for a third time, and took part in the leadership contest.
Iain Gray, however, was the victor, beating Jamieson and Andy Kerr. He led the party until December 2011, though he had handed his notice in seven months earlier after a poor election result.
Johann Lamont then took over. Her time in the post was dominated by the referendum, and she was one of the key figures in the No campaign. She stood down in blistering style in October 2014, accusing the London party of treating Scottish Labour like a “branch office”. Jackie Baillie stepped into the breach, becoming interim leader until December 2014.
Jim Murphy became Scottish leader, though as an MP wasn’t in Holyrood. The SNP were going to be “up against someone who isn’t sh*t” he told a newspaper just after his election. He resigned in June 2015 after the previous month’s General Election saw Labour lose 40 of their 41 MPs. Iain Gray reprised his role as leader, babysitting until Kezia Dugdale took control in August 2015.
Who will become number 12? The Scottish Labour’s Executive Committee are meeting on September 9 to discuss the issue.
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