FEARS the Scottish Labour leadership contest will have only male contenders have reopened previous concerns about how the party treats women.

The two most likely candidates to succeed Kezia Dugdale are the party’s Holyrood health spokesman Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard, a former GMB trade union organiser who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016.

Alex Rowley, the interim leader of the party in Scotland following Dugdale’s departure, and Neil Findlay – who is Jeremy Corbyn’s closest ally in Holyrood – both declared on Wednesday they would not be standing.

READ MORE: Scottish Labour factions emerge in the battle to replace Kezia Dugdale as leader

A third senior MSP James Kelly, currently Labour’s business manager at the Scottish Parliament, added his voice to politicians who would not be standing. When asked if he would be putting himself forward for the job, he replied: “No, certainly not. I won’t be a candidate.”

MSPs Monica Lennon, Pauline McNeill and Jackie Baillie are the only women to have been discussed as possible candidates in the press, though most reports suggest it will be a head-to-head contest between Sarwar and Leonard.

Harriet Harman, the UK party’s former deputy leader, stepped into the debate earlier this week when she called for Dugdale to be replaced by a woman.

It follows reports Dugdale was “forced out” by male politicians who support Corbyn and want a left-wing replacement and a pro-Corbyn voice on the party’s ruling committee.

Harman called for the party “not to revert back to men” after Dugdale’s shock resignation, while a party source raised concerns over the sudden resignations of previous Scottish Labour leaders – Wendy Alexander and Johann Lamont.

An insider told the Daily Telegraph: “Labour has had three women leaders in Scotland and all have been forced out by men.”

They reiterated concerns that Corbyn has a “women problem” after concerns over the under representation of women in his first shadow Cabinet.

Dugdale, who had campaigned against Corbyn in the most recent leadership contest in 2016, this week stunned party members when she announced she was stepping down with immediate effect. In the previous leadership race in 2015 she refused to publicly state which of the four candidates she backed but expressed concerns over Corbyn.

She led Scottish Labour for two years after taking over from Jim Murphy.

Corbyn thanked Dugdale for her service following her resignation on Tuesday night but her departure followed a five-day visit by the UK leader to Scotland last week.

Emma Ritch, executive director of the feminist organisation Engender said: “As the Scottish Labour leadership campaign kicks off we are hoping that it will include and engage women and women’s equality.

“Men’s over-representation in politics leads to campaigning, legislation, and policy that doesn’t entirely resonate with women’s lives.

“Engender backs legislated quotas for the Scottish Parliament and encourages parties to take action to tackle their gender imbalances, including within their leadership.”

Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone, who co-founded the Women 50:50 campaign with Dugdale, and which aims for a 50-50 gender balance of parliamentarians across parties, also expressed concerns.

“Clearly, combining party leadership with elected office is a big ask and one that requires serious consideration but it should be the norm that every leadership vacancy sees women contesting it,” she said.

“We must get more women into senior positions so decision-making reflects the make-up of our society, and while there is a role for quotas and structures, there’s also the need for a supportive culture.”

UK Labour and the LibDems are the only two major parties never to have had a woman leader.

This compares to the SNP, Tories, the Greens, the DUP and Plaid Cymru who have all had women leaders.