Campaign news

Support Left Candidates to Lead Scottish Labour

7th November 2014

Support Left Candidates to Lead Scottish Labour

Dear All,

I’m writing to you because although - like me - you won’t have a vote in the Scottish Labour leadership votes, you do share a wish to see Labour move to the left.

Neil Findlay MSP and Katy Clark MP are probably the most left wing combination possible in Scotland - and both have a chance of winning. If they do, that would create a socialist-led party in Scotland and would give UK Labour the kick that it so desperately needs - putting pressure on it to move to the left and match what was being proposed in Scotland.

The vote for leader is split into three equally weighted sections: parliamentarians (MSPs, MPs, and MEPs); party members; and trade unionists. Unsurprisingly, our parliamentary party has overwhelmingly backed the right wing candidates Jim Murphy and Kezia Dugdale. But seven unions have now publicly backed Neil and Katy (Unison, Aslef, TSSA, BFAWU, UCATT, NUM and Unite) and none have yet backed the right.

This means the contest is delicately poised with members effectively casting the deciding votes. We know Murphy and Dugdale will be backed by Lord Sainsbury and other wealthy backers. So please - as I have today - donate what you can to Neil and Katy’s campaigns. Whether it’s £10, £50 or £100 every donation will help them reach more members.

The contest is short with results announced on 13 December, so please give today.
https://neilscotland.nationbuilder.com/donate
https://katyfordeputy-labourclp28.nationbuilder.com/donate

This is a clear contest between the socialist left and the Progress right. A victory for the Labour left in Scotland could not only revive the party following the Better Together debacle but start to marginalise the Blairite neo-liberals south of the border too.

Best wishes

Andrew Fisher