Now that Johann Lamont has quit as leader of Scottish Labour, bookies are now taking odds on her successor. Four of the eight most likely candidates are Westminster MPs and third-favourite is Gordon Brown himself. He’s struggling to find a role nowadays, and there’s not much demand for him in the international speaker circuit. His role in the referendum campaign was seen, by some, as decisive. So is it now time for him to settle down to a new fiefdom?
He has some support. Here is Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, on BBC Radio Scotland this morning:-
“People are talking about Gordon Brown as leader. I think he should lead us into this next election. I think that Gordon has shown he is a Scottish voice, he is a voice for Scotland. We should be talking about Gordon and Gordon alone. I’ll be seeking him out and so will other people.”
After Brown comes Jim Murphy, who deserves a knighthood for his battle for the union. In my ideal world, Murphy would stay in Westminster and become Labour leader – but he loves Scotland (his wife tries to avoid going to London whenever possible) and the campaign identified him as one of the party’s brightest stars.
My hunch: Brown won’t stand, unless he’s unopposed as he was in 2007. He’s a hammerer and rather bad at winning elections, even within his own party. And he knows it. What’s more Scottish Labour has a far better candidate: the privately-educated Anas Sarwar, a former NHS dentist, now deputy leader and MP for Glasgow Central.
He is the clear favourite, so much so that Wm Hill has him at evens. He has quite a realistic grasp of how well Scottish state education has fared under 15 years of devolution: he has sent his kids to a private school (the one he himself attended, the £8,400-a-year Hutcheson Grammar School*). I suspect that, during the leadership contest, this point may be made once or twice. The last political leader produced by Scotland’s private schools was Tony Blair.
Here are the other candidates, and odds from Wm Hill
UPDATE: Ladbrokes is also taking bets, and is not quite so sure about Hutchies Boy:-
2-1: Anas Sarwar
4-1: Kezia Dugdale
5 Gordon Brown
6 Jim Murphy
10 Neil Findlay
12 Drew Smith
12 Douglas Alexander
16 Jenny Marra
16 Jackie Baillie
* Yes, London readers, those school fees are £8,200 per year, not per term. Scotland’s private schools are just as good as England’s, and cost half as much. Even an MSP can afford them!
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