- Scottish Labour Party leadership election, 2008
The 2008 Scottish Labour Party leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Labour Party in the
Scottish Parliament , and was triggered following the resignation ofWendy Alexander following a row over donations to her own leadership campaign in 2007. [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7478913.stm | title =Alexander quits as Labour leader | author = | date =2008-06-28 | work =BBC News | publisher = ]Iain Gray won the contest and was announced as leader onSeptember 13 ,2008 .It was the second Scottish Labour leadership election in as many years, the first being caused by the resignation of
Jack McConnell [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6946730.stm | title =McConnell quits Labour leadership | author = | date =2007-08-15 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] , following the Scottish National Party's victory over Labour in theScottish Parliament election, 2007 , however in this election, Alexander was unopposed, meaning that no ballot actually took place. [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6993828.stm | title =Alexander to lead Scottish Labour | author = | date =2007-09-14 | work =BBC News | publisher = ]The timetable for the election was finalised on Monday
28 July , having been put on hold for a month to allow the party to focus on the Glasgow East by-election [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7485334.stm | title =By-election delays leader contest | author = | date =2008-07-02 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] , which ultimately saw theScottish National Party overturn a 13,507 Labour majority to gain the seat [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm | title =SNP stun Labour in Glasgow East | author = | date =2008-07-25 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] . Nominations closed at noon on Friday1 August with the result being declared on Saturday13 September .A deputy leadership election was held alongside the leadership election following the resignation of Cathy Jamieson on
July 28 .Johann Lamont was elected deputy leader.uccessfully nominated candidates
*
Iain Gray — 13 nominations
*Cathy Jamieson — 12 nominations
*Andy Kerr — 10 nominationsSource: [http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/received_nominations Scottish Labour]
All three declared candidates received more than five nominations from MSPs, which was the minimum requirement for them to get onto the ballot paper by the close of nominations at 12:00 UTC+1 on
August 1 2008 [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7481274.stm | title =Q&A: Labour leadership election | author = | date =2008-06-30 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7536159.stm | title =Labour leader nominations close | author = | date =2008-08-01 | work =BBC News | publisher = ]Nominations
Candidates are initially nominated by their parliamentary colleagues from within the
Scottish Parliament , following which Westminster MPs, constituency Labour parties and affiliated trade union organisation can submit 'supporting nominations', providing their backing to a specific candidates. These nominations can be seen in the tables below;Round 2
Source: [http://www.thecitizen.org.uk/?p=56 The Citizen: Campaigning for Socialism]
uggested candidates not standing
The following either publicly suggested they were condisering standing for election or received media speculation to that effect. However at the close of nominations they had not been nominated by any MSPs [cite news| url =http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/received_nominations | title =The Scottish Labour Party: Nominations received | author = | date =
2008-08-01 | work =Scottish Labour | publisher = ] .*
Charlie Gordon [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7482811.stm | title =Gordon eyes Labour leadership bid | author = | date =2008-07-01 | work =BBC News | publisher = ]
*Tom McCabe [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7479359.stm | title =Who are the Labour contenders? | author = | date =2008-06-28 | work =BBC News | publisher = ]
*Margaret Curran . [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7481142.stm | title =Curran considering leadership bid | author = | date =2008-06-30 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] Curran was considered to be a probable candidate; however, Curran subsequently stood in and lost the Glasgow East by-election onJuly 24 , raising questions over any leadership ambitions [cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm | title =SNP stun Labour in Glasgow East | author = | date =2008-07-25 | work =BBC News | publisher = ] . Later stated she supported Gray. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7533131.stm]
*Ken Macintosh [cite news| url=http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2410434.0.0.php | title=After poll disaster Labour dups referendum support | author=Paul Hutchenson | date=2008-07-28 | work=Sunday Herald | publisher= ] . Macintosh nominated Andy Kerr onJuly 31 .Timeline of Events
See also
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Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election, 2008 References
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