Michael Marra was announced as new Scottish Labour leader at Dynamic Earth on Saturday morning.
This had been a reasonably short contest since Anas Sarwar announced he was being elevated to the Lords in the summer after Andy Burnham became Prime Minister,
Marra is regional MSP for North East Scotland, first selected in 2021 when he replaced his sister Jenny Marra, who had been an MSP for close to a decade.
In his acceptance speech Mr Marra referred to the mere 17 MSPs elected to The Scottish Parliament, the worst Scottish Parliamentary election result ever and said: “May hurt so much because we know the SNP didn’t deserve a fifth term in power.
“But the truth is Scotland didn’t think we would be much better.
“Scots know what we are against. They can’t tell you what we are for.
“And that vacuum was filled by the poison, racism and bigotry of Reform.
“We must be clear in our values. We must lead with our values.”
Pressed further about the decline in the number of MSPs by Deadline News, he replied: “I think that the voting coalition that existed in 1999 at the start of devolution has completely disappeared, and because we are a different country, people live in different places. They have different priorities. They have different kinds of jobs. The weight of economic growth has shifted to the east and towards Edinburgh, but we can still see actually a good record of delivering Labour representation here in this city, which is absolutely critical.
“And we have to learn more about how Labour representatives here have continued to win when we have lost in other parts of the country. I think Edinburgh is a thriving, dynamic city, and we need to make sure that we are working with our brilliant local representatives ahead of the council elections next year, but also to make sure that we learn from their successes.”
Asked about the prospect of Andy Burnham visiting Scotland any time soon he said that will happen. He replied: “I’m sure Andy Burnham up will be up in the next couple of weeks. I’d hoped that he would be here in the next few days, but obviously he’s had the sad bereavement in his family, and my condolences have gone to him in terms of the loss of his father.
“He’s going to be here on a regular basis in the coming months, and I’m looking forward to building that really strong relationship with him. But key to that, in all the conversations that I’m having with Andy, will be putting Scotland first, and he will be left in no doubt as to what my role as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party is about.
“It’s about delivering a stronger Scotland, and not just within the Labour Party, but for the country.”
The result was as follows:
- Number of total valid votes: 6,751.
- Turnout among members: 49.43%.
- Turnout among affiliates: 5.18%.
- Votes cast for Michael Mara: 4,266 (63%).
- Votes cast for Joe Fagan: 2,485 (37%).
Before becoming a politician Mr Marra worked as an adviser to Iain Gray at the time of the 2011 election, and contested Dundee West at the 2015 general election, losing to the SNP’s Chris Law.
He served as the party’s finance spokesperson – a record which Fagan attacked during the STV debate, over Labour abstaining on two SNP budgets. This seems to be the one point where a new leader could perhaps score better than previous Labour leaders. If the party took a stance rather than simply condemning other parties – and in particular the SNP, they might gain more respect – and more followers than the reported 11,000 which they now have.
He led the party’s policy development work and wrote the 2026 manifesto, stood in Dundee City West in May, finishing second with 6,365 votes (24.56%) behind the SNP’s Heather Anderson, but was returned again as a list MSP.
He voted against the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill in March 2026 and sits on the Fabian Society’s executive committee.
Joe Fagan was backed by two unions ,GMB Scotland and UNISON, as well as 13 MSPs and MPs, 52 councillors and 16 CLP nominations. He is the regional MSP for South Scotland, elected for the first time in May, but has been a politician since 2017 when he became an East Kilbride Central North councillor. He became leader of South Lanarkshire Council when there was no clear majority for any party. He has lived in East Kilbride all his life
Born in Lanarkshire in 1987 and a lifelong resident of East Kilbride, he worked in retail in his teenage years. He was a founding member of the East Kilbride Fairtrade Group, and graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2009.
He entered elected politics in 2017 as councillor for East Kilbride Central North. When the 2022 local elections left no party with a majority, he was elected leader of South Lanarkshire Council on 18 May 2022, heading the council’s first Labour-led administration since 2017.
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