LABOUR could be out of government for the next decade at least, a former chair of the party in Scotland has admitted.
Taking to Twitter, Jamie Glackin said a temporary chief needed to take charge and “get rid of the nutters” before the opposition could become electable.
The comments came as Keir Starmer emerged as the membership’s favourite to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader.
A poll for the Guardian of Labour members suggested he was the clear choice in all age groups and social classes. Scottish members backed him over left-wing rival Rebecca Long Bailey by 42% to 11%.
READ MORE: Ian Murray writes to Labour MPs to seek opinions on deputy leadership bid
Neither have yet formally announced bids for the top job, though Starmer is expected to make an announcement this weekend.
Details of the contest will be finalised next week, with the new leader elected in March.
Corbyn announced his intention to stand down last month following the party’s historic defeat at theGeneral Election.
Labour recorded their worst result since 1935, and were all but wiped out in Scotland, losing all but one of their MPs.
Glackin, who was chairman of Scottish Labour from 2014-17, said the membership wasn’t “really electing a Labour leader who can win an election.”
He added: “We’re electing a leader who will get rid of the nutters. Like Swinney did with SNP (before Salmond let them all back in.)”
Asked if that meant the next Labour leader should “take one for the team” and lose the 2024 General Election and “maybe think about being competitive after that,” he replied: “I’m afraid so.”
It’s the frankest admission yet from a Scottish Labour figure that Scotland could be subject to Tory rule until 2030.
Glackin is no Corbyn fan. He said back in October that he would not back the party in a General Election while the veteran left winger was in charge.
READ MORE: There's only one way back for the Labour Party in Scotland
“I’m a Labour man. Everybody knows that. But I won’t be voting Labour again until the antisemitism problem is sorted.
And if that gets me purged then I can live with that,” he said on Twitter at the time.
The polling by YouGov for the Party Members Project put Starmer as winning with a 61% vote share to 39% for Long Bailey.
Jess Phillips was the third most popular choice among members.
Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University of London, who jointly ran the poll with the University of Sussex, said it looked increasingly likely that the next leader would not be from the far-left of the party.
“This is not shaping up to be a 2015-style Labour leadership contest.”
“Unless potential candidates drop out before the start of voting, it may take a few rounds to decide the winner this time around.
“But it doesn’t look at the moment as if the winner will come from the left of the party.”
So far only Emily Thornberry and Clive Lewis have officially declared an interest in the top job.
Phillips and the Wigan MP Lisa Nandy are expected to stand. Party chairman and Corbyn ally Ian Lavery might also run. Yvette Cooper has ruled out a bid.
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, Starmer said: “For me, the most important thing is that the Labour Party is rebuilt, we learn the lessons of the last general election, reflect on them, and address them.”
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