Moray politicians react to resignation of Richard Leonard as Scottish Labour leader
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LABOUR'S candidate for May's Holyrood election, Jo Kirby, has backed Richard Leonard's decision to resign as the party's leader in Scotland.
Mr Leonard resigned as Scottish Labour leader yesterday, having been in charge for more than three years.
Ms Kirby, a school teacher locally, said it was "the honourable thing to do" after a number of defeats in elections and with the party struggling in the polls.
A poll released this week by Savanta ComRes showed Labour are polling at 18 per cent in Scotland, with the Tories on 19 per cent and the SNP on 53 per cent.
Ms Kirby said: "Richard Leonard is a decent man, but when you have suffered multiple election defeats and you are languishing in the polls the honourable thing for a leader to do is to accept some responsibility for that, which is what he has done.
"I wish him well for the future and I hope he stays in politics.
"While we will be changing leader we won’t be changing policies. When you take the badges off, our policy platform, which is far more progressive and transformative than anything we’ve seen from the SNP, is actually really popular.
"People support scrapping the unfair council tax and replacing it with a fairer alternative. People support universal free bus travel, building 12,000 zero-carbon social homes a year, and investing in education.
"What we need to do now is ensure that voters know that it’s Labour that is the party of equality, justice, and opportunity for all."
Moray's SNP MSP Richard Lochhead, who will be seeking re-election when he stands against Ms Kirby in the May election, also labelled Mr Leonard a "decent and honourable man", but said his party is "irrelevant" in Scotland.
Mr Lochhead said: "Labour have been a spent force in Moray and indeed Scotland for many years now and have completely failed to adapt to the needs and aspirations of modern Scotland.
"I have always felt that Richard Leonard is a decent and honourable man and I wish him well, but no matter how many times they change the messenger it will make no difference if the message stays the same.
"The best example of this is Labour’s cast-iron opposition to a referendum on Scotland’s future and their policy that it’s better to leave Boris Johnson in charge of Scotland’s destiny than decide our own future.
"And now on Brexit, UK Labour have sided with the Tories. They, again, are on the wrong side of public opinion in Scotland. This all makes Labour irrelevant these days.”
Posting on social media, Douglas Ross, Moray's Conservative MP, wished Mr Leonard all the best as he stepped down.
He said: "This will have been a difficult decision for Richard to take but I wish him and his family all the best for the future.
"We disagreed on many things in politics but he was passionate about the causes he championed and I’m sure he will continue to fight on these issues going forward."
