New position of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

Jim Murphy and Sarah Boyack today unveiled the largest package of reforms to the Scottish Labour Party in living memory. The moves will see the first-ever Scottish Labour Leader in post by 17 December.

The proposals were unanimously endorsed by the Scottish Executive Committee in John Smith House today, and will be debated at UK party conference in September and a special Scottish Labour Party conference in Scotland on 29 October.

The moves will, if agreed, mean the full devolution of the Scottish Labour Party:

• create, for the first time, an elected Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
• open that position to all Labour parliamentarians elected in Scotland, provided they commit to seek election as an MSP and First Minister
• fully devolve the Scottish Labour Party in all Scottish matters, including the rules for the Scottish Leadership election, local government processes and selections, and Scottish parliament selections
• begin the process of restructuring local parties in Scotland on the basis of Scottish Parliament seats, not Westminster seats
• establish a political strategy board, meeting weekly, to develop and co-ordinate political strategy with the Leader, Shadow Secretary of State, the leader of the COSLA Labour Group, a representative of the MEPs, the party chair, and the Scottish General Secretary
• establish a new political base in Edinburgh

This is the second package of changes to be proposed by Mr Murphy and Ms Boyack, who along with a Review Group bringing together all party stakeholders, have been tasked with reviewing the party in Scotland. A further package of changes will be made in their final report to be made in November. The proposals from the review were given the backing of the party's Scottish Executive Committee today.

Victoria Jamieson, Vice-Chair of the Scottish Executive Committee, who chaired the meeting today, said:

"These proposals were unanimously agreed today by the Scottish Executive Committee and represent a significant change in the way the party is organised in Scotland. I think members will be pleased that the changes are both significant and radical, and they will set us on the path of winning again."

Sarah Boyack MSP said:

"Labour devolved Scotland when we set up the Scottish Parliament in 1999, and we are proud of that. Labour used that Scottish Parliament to deliver important reforms for Scotland, but we didn’t reform ourselves. Now we need to make devolution a reality within our party too.

"This is a radical package of changes to beef up the role of the Scottish Leader and put us on the path to winning. We won well in 2010, but we lost badly in 2011. That means we have to change and the status quo is not an option.”

Jim Murphy MP said:

"This is about turning the Scottish Labour Party into Scotland’s Labour Party.

"Today we are completing the devolution of the Scottish Labour Party. From now on, whatever is devolved to the Scottish Parliament will be devolved to the Scottish Labour Party.

"Structures in themselves don’t win us elections, but this, the biggest change for 90 years, marks a fresh start for the Scottish Labour Party. People lost faith with us because we lost connection with them. Scotland has changed and now it’s time for Scottish Labour to change too.

"For the last three months we have listened to hundreds of views, taken thousands of pages of evidence, asked civic Scotland for advice, and thought long and hard how to reform the party we love. Our task is to make our party for all of Scotland again, for all our people, all our cities, towns and villages.

"This new structure gives us a new unity and a new strength."

10 September 2011