No confidence vote in Scottish Labour chief Richard Leonard withdrawn

A movement of no confidence within the Scottish Labour chief Richard Leonard has been withdrawn.

Mr Leonard had been anticipated to face a vote at a gathering of the occasion’s governing physique on Saturday.

The movement was submitted after 4 Labour MSPs known as for his resignation final week, citing poor election outcomes and polling beneath his command.

Talking after the assembly, Mr Leonard mentioned it was time to finish “inside plotting”.

And he known as for “unity not division” throughout the occasion.

“It is time for Scottish Labour to face collectively and to face with the Scottish individuals at a time when dangers attributable to pandemic are rising once more and when the economic system is on the sting of a deep recession with jobs and livelihoods in peril,” he mentioned.

“There should be an finish to the inner plotting and we should unite to carry the Scottish authorities to account and to supply an actual various.

“I firmly consider that I’m the most effective particular person to guide us into subsequent 12 months’s elections with a plan for jobs and actual financial and social transformation which I do know is shared by Keir Starmer.

“I’ve listened to the considerations expressed about me, I’ll deal with these with respect and humility, and I’ll combat with each ounce of my being to enhance the fortunes of the occasion within the run as much as subsequent 12 months’s election.”

• Richard Leonard: Who’s the Scottish Labour chief?

The movement was withdrawn after being mentioned on the the occasion’s Scottish Govt Committee (SEC).

The committee is made up of elected representatives in addition to commerce union officers and representatives of the occasion’s grassroots membership.

Mr Leonard, who was an in depth ally of former UK Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn, nonetheless enjoys the help of many on the left of the occasion.

However his critics level to the occasion’s dismal opinion ballot rankings as proof that change is required.

Opinion polls counsel Scottish Labour is trailing a distant third behind the SNP and Scottish Conservatives forward of the election subsequent Might.

Scottish Labour is at the moment the third largest within the Scottish Parliament, behind the SNP and Conservatives, and misplaced all however considered one of its MPs in final 12 months’s common election.