Monica Lennon launches Scottish Labour leadership bid

Monica Lennon has announced that she will stand to become leader of Scottish Labour.

The incoming Glasgow MSP lost her seat in this year’s Holyrood election but returned to parliament after Anas Sarwar opened up a regional seat when he stepped down from Holyrood.

Writing in the Sunday Mail, Lennon said her party needed “radical and fast change” or risked facing “oblivion”.

She said: “Anyone looking objectively at our party today would conclude a harsh reality. We are in the last chance saloon.”

The move comes after after Scottish Labour faced its worst result in the history of devolution in May.

Lennon said that time away from parliament had given her “space to reflect and listen”.

She said: “I’ve spoken with members and voters who feel disappointed, disillusioned, and defeated.

“I’ve heard their frustration – but I’ve also felt a quiet, burning determination. Crisis demands courage.”

She added that the party had “gone backwards in every Holyrood election since 1999”.

“If we do not change – radically and fast – we face oblivion”, she said.

“That is why I am putting myself forward to lead Scottish Labour because I can’t stand by and witness our terminal decline.”