SCOTTISH Labour failed to capitalise on a so-called “Corbyn bounce” during the general election, according to an MSP bidding to become the party’s new leader in Scotland.
Richard Leonard said the UK leader’s growing support during the campaign was not noticed and acted upon quickly enough in Scotland.
He claimed the party, which won seven seats north of the Border, could have been even more successful if it had aligned itself more closely with Jeremy Corbyn.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Leonard said: “There was an opportunity that the Scottish Labour Party missed. I think there was a Corbyn bounce [but] I don’t think it was picked up soon enough and acted on quickly enough in Scotland.
“If the Labour Party in Scotland had properly understood what was going on and reacted to it I think that there would have been the opportunity for even greater success.”
He added: “I think we should have used the opportunity of Jeremy Corbyn’s growing popularity in that election to knock on more doors to get across the Labour message and I think to get away a bit from the entrenchment in constitutional politics which we found ourselves in.”
Left-winger Leonard confirmed his intention to stand as a candidate to succeed Kezia Dugdale over the weekend. Dugdale shocked party members in Scotland when she announced on Tuesday night she was stepping down from the job with immediate effect.
She had been leader of Scottish Labour for two years, taking over from Jim Murphy after the disastrous 2015 general election campaign.
Leonard, 55, is a former GMB trade union organiser who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016 as MSP for Central Scotland.
The race is now on for Leonard and rival candidate Anas Sarwar, the Glasgow MSP, and former Scottish Labour deputy leader to get the endorsements of at least five parliamentarians – MPs, MSPs or MEPS – for their candidacies to be accepted by the party.
Neil Findlay, the Lothians MSP who is a key ally of Corbyn in Scotland, has given his backing to Leonard. He is also expected to get the backing of Elaine Smith, another left-wing MSP and a member of the Campaign for Socialism group, which has close links to Momentum, the grassroots organisation which backs Corbyn.
Leonard campaigned for a Remain vote in the EU referendum but was among three Labour MSPs to defy Dugdale in February to vote in favour of the triggering of Article 50, starting the formal process to leave the bloc.
The move effectively meant they were adopting Corbyn’s formal position at Westminster that Labour should not obstruct or thwart the triggering of Article 50.
Leonard, like his rival Sarwar, is opposed to Scottish independence, and campaigned for a No vote ahead of the September 2014 referendum.
He is likely to get fewer nominations than Sarwar though is expected to get the minimum of five so his name can go forward.
Well known within the trade movement, his campaign is likely to get a significant boost with te backing of his former employers, the GMB, and the trade union Unite, which supports Corbyn’s leadership.
Campaign for Socialism has previously criticised Dugdale’s strategy in the general election, saying in a report published in July that the campaign focussed too much on the constitution and should have put more emphasis on Corbyn’s message which resonated with voters in England.
Last month, the Glasgow North East MP, Paul Sweeney, said that the campaign was run more like a by-election.
Corbyn increased the number of Labour seats by 30 though lost to the Conservatives who failed to gain an overall majority and were forced to do a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party. Labour’s Scottish executive committee meet this Saturday to set out a timetable for the contest.
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