JEREMY Corbyn has handed the role of shadow Scottish secretary to a Sunderland-born MP whose constituency is situated near Newcastle.
Left winger Dave Anderson is to take on the brief for Scotland, in addition to his Northern Ireland portfolio.
The MP for Blaydon, Tyne and Wear, received his second new post in a week followed the resignation of Scotland’s only Labour MP Ian Murray over Mr Corbyn’s refusal to quit.
Mr Murray’s was among a number frontbench resignations timed to force Mr Corbyn to step down following criticism of his leadership and efforts to help Remain during the EU referendum.
Mr Anderson said that he would be seeking a meeting with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale – who also called for Mr Corbyn to quit – “as soon as possible”.
A spokesman for Ms Dugdale said: "Kez looks forward to welcoming Dave to Scotland soon and discussing the challenges ahead."
In an interview earlier this week, Mr Anderson, speaking after the parliamentary Labour party at Westminster overwhelmingly called for Mr Corbyn to go, said: “He has a huge mandate, the biggest mandate in the history of our party virtually from over 400,000 members.
“172 of my colleagues have decided they have got no conidence in him. He’ll hear what they have to say but he might want to hear what the rest of the party have to say, and he’s got the right to do that as the chosen leader. If anybody else disagree, they’ve got he right to put their hat in the ring against him.”
Mr Anderson sits on the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster and was a miner for 20 years before becoming a care worker and then an MP at the 2005 general election.
He has been on the Commons Northern Ireland committee for 11 years and has a long standing interest in the peace process.
Mr Anderson was also a member of the Commons Procedure Committee for a year and is a former parliamentary private secretary to Tony Blair’s education and skills minister Bill Rammell.
He has campaigned to overturn a 2007 ruling in the Lords compensation would no longer be payable to anyone suffering from pleural plaques – an issue that affects many Scots.
He also chairs Labour Friends of Iraq group, which aims to support Iraqi civilians following the war.
He has also been hailed as a parliamentary champion for his work for Show Racism The Red Card.
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