Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
Incumbent Anas Sarwar since 27 February 2021
Member of	Scottish Parliament (since 1999) Parliament of the United Kingdom (since 2011) Local government in Scotland (since 2011)
Inaugural holder	Donald Dewar
Formation	7 May 1999
Deputy	Jackie Baillie

The office of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party was established when the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1998 prior to its inaugural election. ^[1] Until the Murphy and Boyack review in 2011, the office was Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament and restricted to members of the Scottish Parliament. Since the review, the office has been opened up to all elected Scottish Labour politicians, including those involved in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and local government.

List

Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament

No.	Image	Name	Term start	Term end	Source
1		Donald Dewar	19 September 1998	11 October 2000	[1] [2]
2		Henry McLeish	27 October 2000 [a]	8 November 2001	[3]
―		Cathy Jamieson	8 November 2001	22 November 2001	[4]
3		Jack McConnell	22 November 2001	15 August 2007	[5]
―		Cathy Jamieson	15 August 2007	14 September 2007	[4]
4		Wendy Alexander	14 September 2007	28 June 2008	[6]
―		Cathy Jamieson	28 June 2008	13 September 2008	[4]
5		Iain Gray	13 September 2008	17 December 2011	[7] [8]

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

No.	Image	Name	Term start	Term end	Source
6		Johann Lamont	17 December 2011	24 October 2014	[9] [1]
—		Anas Sarwar	24 October 2014	13 December 2014	[4]
7		Jim Murphy (as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party)	13 December 2014	13 June 2015	[10]
		Kezia Dugdale (as Leader of the Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament)
–		Iain Gray	13 June 2015	15 August 2015	[11]
8		Kezia Dugdale	15 August 2015	29 August 2017	[12]
―		Alex Rowley	29 August 2017	15 November 2017	[13] [14]
―		Jackie Baillie	15 November 2017	18 November 2017	[4]
9		Richard Leonard	18 November 2017	14 January 2021	[15]
–		Jackie Baillie	14 January 2021	27 February 2021	[4]
10		Anas Sarwar	27 February 2021	Incumbent	[16]

Timeline

Notes

1. Acting: 11 October 2000 – 27 October 2000

References

1. Hassan, Gerry (2022-03-24), "Appendix: A Chronology of Scottish Politics and Devolution, 1997–2019", The Story of the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 289–300, doi:10.1515/9781474454919-029, ISBN   978-1-4744-5491-9 , retrieved 2025-06-15
2. "Donald Dewar". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
3. "Henry McLeish". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
4. As deputy leader at the time of a leadership election.
5. McConnell quits Labour leadership Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News, 15 August 2007.
6. "Wendy Alexander". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
7. "Gray becomes Scots Labour leader". bbc.co.uk . 13 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
8. Black, Andrew (2011-12-17). "Life and times of Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2025-06-15. Retrieved 2025-06-15.
9. "Johann Lamont named new Scottish Labour leader". BBC News. 17 December 2011.
10. "MP Jim Murphy named Scottish Labour leader". BBC News. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
11. "Scottish Labour agree to swathe of party reforms – and new leader will be announced on August 15th". LabourList. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
12. "Kezia Dugdale". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
13. "Kezia Dugdale quits as Scottish Labour leader". 29 August 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
14. "Alex Rowley steps down as interim Scottish Labour leader". Holyrood Website. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
15. "Richard Leonard to lead Scottish Labour". BBC News. 18 November 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
16. Rodgers, Sienna (2021-02-27). "Anas Sarwar elected as new leader of Scottish Labour Party". LabourList. Retrieved 2021-02-27.