Scottish Labour at a crossroads again as Sarwar jumps ship

Scottish Labour at a crossroads again as Sarwar jumps shipImage source, PA MediaImage caption, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has stood down to become a minister in Andy Burnham's governmentByGlenn CampbellScotland political editorPublished31 minutes agoAnas Sarwar has never made a secret of his desire to hold high office.It's only a matter of weeks since he offered himself to Scottish voters as a candidate to replace John Swinney as first minister.That went spectacularly wrong. The SNP held power for a fifth consecutive term and Labour recorded their worst Holyrood result since devolution.While the performance of the UK government under Sir Keir Starmer gets much of the blame, there is now a live debate in the party about Sarwar's strategy.Questions are also being asked of Scottish Labour's campaign co-directors Jackie Baillie and Douglas Alexander.Sarwar had said he would stick around as leader to steady the ship, but his swift exit contradicts that position and is a source of controversy for some.There are those who see it as a reward for failure given the Holyrood defeat, even if Labour was able to beat the SNP in Scotland at the UK general election two years earlier.There are those who see it as a reward for treachery given that Sarwar was the first senior Labour figure to call for Starmer to quit - a move that undermined the then prime minister, to the eventual benefit of Andy Burnham.Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar set to become a minister in Burnham's governmentPublished13 hours agoWho is Anas Sarwar? The Scottish Labour leader returning to UK politicsPublished12 hours agoWho could be the new Scottish Labour leader?Published10 hours agoThe prime minister's cabinet includes a number of those who took a stand against Starmer, so perhaps it should be no surprise that Burnham would want to make Sarwar a minister too.There are also those who see Sarwar's appointment to the Lords in order to take up his government position...