A Scottish Labour candidate has launched a campaign for his party to become independent after another Holyrood election loss.
Jack McConnel’s ‘Just For Scotland’ group is calling for a formal split from UK Labour as a way of ensuring there are no “divided loyalties”.
Scottish Labour recorded their worst ever Holyrood election result on May 7th after slumping to 16%.
They have gone backwards at every devolved election and insiders are increasingly worried the damage cannot be reversed.
Sources close to party leader Anas Sarwar believe Keir Starmer’s unpopularity as Prime Minister was the key factor behind the latest defeat.
McConnel, who is not the former Labour First Minister of a similar name, stood for his party in Galloway and West Dumfries.
View 2 ImagesJack McConnel
In an interview with the Record, the 32 year old former diplomat revealed his plan to launch an internal group to make Scottish Labour independent of the UK party.
He said: “We used to be seen as the party to stand up for Scotland because we delivered our Parliament. But we’ve now let too many Scots assume we can’t be for Scotland.
“Splitting from the rest of Labour would help us be seen as just for Scotland, without worrying about what people in Westminster think. We need to be confident in our pro-union beliefs while remembering why we were the party of devolution.
“Becoming a new party won’t solve every problem of social democracy, but it’s a vital first step to progress in other areas.”
“If you care about social democracy’s future in Scotland, we need your help.”
McConnell’s ‘Just For Scotland’ website states: “Political parties are vehicles to put beliefs into practice. To do that, Scottish Labour must become a separate party. No suspicion of divided loyalties. Just for Scotland.
“This is not a campaign of one faction or wing. The idea has support across the party. Everyone is welcome.”
He also includes a series of questions and answers on the aims of the campaign.
On whether an independent party would mean replacing Scottish Labour, the website states:
“No. Whether the name of a separate Scottish party remains Scottish Labour or changes, the campaign in no way wants to replace the existing party. We work within Scottish Labour to encourage the party to separate itself from UK Labour.”
On how a separate party would work, the website added: “We would certainly want to maintain links of solidarity with UK Labour, as a sister party of social democracy.
“There are many models around the world to borrow from. the SDLP in Northern Ireland is a good example, but Quebec and Bavaria also offer models to learn from.
“Part of Just Scotland’s work will be to produce position papers that work through the detail and reassure those who are persuaded in principle but perhaps not in practice.”
It also says the new campaign group is not trying to supplant an existing party review into the defeat: “The review has an important role in bringing candidates and key activists together with the governance of our party.
“We encourage any campaign members taking part in the review to feed back their desire to see a separate party just for Scotland.
“But the gravity of our situation is such that the campaign is unlikely to drop its aims if the review finds that huge changes to our brand are not urgent.”
Scottish Labour has autonomy from the UK party, but the SNP has long dismissed it as a “branch office” taking its orders from London.
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Scottish Labour’s election review is also examining the “operational and financial relationship” with UK Labour.
The campaign can be found at https://www.justscotland.win/