GLASGOW MSP James kelly has resigned from Scottish Labour’s frontbench saying he no longer has confidence in Richard Leonard as party leader.
In a merciless resignation letter, the former chief whip set out why he was stepping down as justice spokesman.
He told Mr Leonard on Tuesday night:
Dear Richard
I am writing today to resign from my position as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice.
I spoke to you in your office 3 weeks ago about my concerns for the party’s prospects in the 2021 Scottish Parliament Elections.
I outlined my view that to reverse the party's decline it was necessary for you to resign as leader.
You responded by saying you wished to remain in post as you believed you could reverse our poor position in the polls.
In the past 3 weeks, I have watched your performance closely.
The position of the party continues to decline not improve.
Recent polling shows Scottish labour support at an unacceptably low level of 14%.
This has been a worrying and consistent trend for some time.
In addition, your personal ratings are particularly low.
More than half of the the public have no opinion on you and you have a negative rating even among our own supporters.
Such poor ratings would produce a catastrophic result from which the party would struggle to recover.
Coming a poor third in the election would be letting down those who relay on Scottish Labour to provide a strong voice.
I see no evidence of a clear plan to reverse the party's fortunes.
The situation has been apparent for some time and you have failed to turn things around.
I have no confidence in your ability to shape the party’s message, strategy and organisation.
I know that this is a view shared by other parliamentarians, party members and indeed many members of the public.
No one doubts your commitment to the principles of socialism and solidarity but the job of the Leader iss [to] win support for the political party.
In that regard, it is clear that after nearly 3 years in charge you are not able to take the party forward.
I firmly and sincerely believe that it is in the best interests of the party that you stand down as Leader.
Given my lack of confidence in your leadership, I have therefore taken the difficult decision to resign from the Shadow Cabinet.
This is not a decision that I have taken lightly.
I have always been a loyal party member and this is the first time in 39 years of membership that I have resigned a position.
I have been a member of the Shadow Cabinet for 9 years and served under different leaders in a variety of positions including Chief Whip and Business Manager.
The interests of the Scottish Labour Party are the key consideration in the conclusions that I have reached.
Regards
James
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