A Holyrood politician has denied factions between Labour MSPs and MPs and insisted they were "joined at the hip" in doing the best they could.
Jackie Baillie was speaking to the BBC in the wake of the resignation of Scottish Labour Party leader Johann Lamont.
She stood down with immediate effect on Friday evening.
Nominations for Ms Lamont's replacement will be sought and a new leader will be in place on 13 December.
Ms Baillie told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that it was natural for there to "always be" a debate between MPs and MSPs but she denied the levels of interference stated by Ms Lamont.
She said: "Whether you are an MP or MSP in Scotland you are representing constituents in Scotland.
"It doesn't matter what chamber you are in, you are absolutely joined at the hip in wanting the best that we can."
Ms Baillie has ruled herself out of the contest, saying she would rather play a "supporting role" than be leader itself.
Labour MP Anas Sarwar is currently interim leader of the Scottish party. He would not confirm if he intended to stand as leader, saying he would not rule it out but that he needed to think it through.
Other possible candidates include East Renfrewshire MP Jim Murphy and several prominent MSPs including Kezia Dugdale, Jenny Marra and Neil Findlay.
Gordon Brown MP has also been linked to the role but reports have suggested the former prime minister has ruled himself out of the running.
Ms Baillie told presenter Gary Robertson: "I believe we should have a very open contest and I look forward to a number of different names emerging, be they MPs, MSPs or indeed MEPs who are entitled to stand as well.
"But I think it would be really helpful to have a debate in the party where we have quite a lengthy nominations process that tries to balance a speedy transition, but yet a clear desire for the members to have their voice heard and I think you will see a number of people coming forward in the coming days and I look forward to that very much."
Nominations openShe added that she was disappointed the party would be using the electoral college method instead of one-member-one vote.
The Labour Party is moving to a more straight forward way of electing its leaders but this contest will use the long-established collegiate system.
Nominations for candidates will open on Friday, 31 October, and close on Tuesday, 4 November.
The ballot will start on Monday, 17 November, and the new leader will be announced on Saturday, 13 December.
After standing down, Ms Lamont accused the UK Labour Party of treating Scotland like a "branch office".
In her resignation letter, the 56-year-old said senior members of the party had "questioned" her place and she was taking herself "out of the equation" so it could decide the best way forward.
In an earlier interview with the Daily Record, Ms Lamont branded some of her Westminster colleagues as "dinosaurs".
MSP Baillie denies Labour disunity
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment