SCOTTISH Labour MSP Pauline McNeill has dramatically quit the party’s deputy leadership race leaving centrist Jackie Baillie and socialist Matt Kerr to compete for the post.
The contest will be a vote on whether party members back or oppose a second independence referendum with Dumbarton MSP Baillie against a new plebiscite and Glasgow city councillor Kerr more open to one.
McNeill announced she was withdrawing from the contest yesterday afternoon saying there would be “little scope for a voice in the middle” despite receiving enough nominations to stand.
In a statement she said she would instead be focusing her energy on engaging with people across the country.
“After talking to people and reflecting on the final ballot my sense is that the contest will be acutely polarised within the party and that there is little scope for a voice in the middle of what will be a long contest,” she said.
“The party in Scotland must change or die. There has never been a more crucial time for Scottish Labour.
“We must have answers on the way forward for Scotland’s future. We must offer a credible alternative vision for Scotland.”
She added: “In view of the above, I have decided to withdraw my nomination and focus my energies on how to get these issues resolved by engaging with people across the country, tackling the Government on their record and working for my constituents in Glasgow.”
READ MORE: Pauline McNeill drops out of Scottish Labour's deputy leadership race
A vacancy arose after former Shadow Scottish Secretary Lesley Laird lost her Westminster seat at the General Election, a defeat that also triggered her resignation as leader Richard Leonard’s number two.
Writing in Tribune last week Kerr, a former Westminster candidate, said the party should be open to backing a new vote.
“Brexit is done but IndyRef2 and Scottish independence more generally are still very much live debates that we in the Labour Party have to address. If we are to win people back to our cause, to change and transform lives, we need to be clear where we stand,”he wrote.
“I am against independence because I think it will prolong and intensify austerity and that it will be working people who will pay the price. The economic reality of independence and the hair-brained plans for the currency really will jeopardise the life chances of far too many people for at least a generation. Even the SNP’s own Growth Commission recognises this.”
He added: “But we are democratic socialists and it’s no longer good enough to say that we think the Westminster Government should block a democratic mandate if it emerges. Doing so plays into the hands of the SNP.
“Moving forward, Labour must separate the process of IndyRef2 from the substance of independence itself. We must say, quite clearly, that we will campaign against independence but not argue for blocking another referendum if that’s what the people of Scotland decide they want.”
At the close of the first stage of nominations from elected members Baillie received the most backing with Kerr in second place. Dundee Councillor Michael Marra did not proceed after failing to secure enough nominations from MSPs, MPs and Councillors.
The ballot will open on February 21 and close on April 2. The result will be announced on Friday April 3.
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