ANAS Sarwar has launched a new group to help UK Labour return to power despite leading his own party to its worst ever result at Holyrood.

The Scottish Labour leader was mocked after announcing a new “Labour Leaders’ Forum” for national and regional leaders to “strengthen the bonds of the United Kingdom and deliver a Labour government”.

He said it would confirm Labour’s rejection of both “divisive nationalism and Tory ideology”.

The Glasgow MSP also said the group would allow Labour’s leadership to speak with “a clear voice about the change the party can bring to communities”, chiming with recent internal criticism that UK leader Keir Starmer struggles to articulate a vision.

However opposition parties said Mr Sarwar could hardly give tips on winning, after Scottish Labour hit a new low last month by losing vote share and two more MSPs at Holyrood.

The party, which won 56 of the 129 seats in 1999, now has just 22.

Mr Sarwar’s forum would bring together the six leaders and deputies of the UK, Scottish and Welsh Labour parties as well as the party’s eight mayors and metro mayors in England.

Mr Sarwar said it would meet quarterly to enable key Labour politicians to learn from “election campaign successes and challenges” to improve campaigning.

He has invited Mr Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner;,Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and his party deputy Carolyn Harris, London mayor Sadiq Khan, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Liverpool City region metro mayor Steve Rotherham.

Also being asked to take part are Tracy Brabin, Dan Norris, Jamie Driscoll, Dan Jarvis and Nik Johnson, the mayors of West Yorkshire, West of England, North of Tyne, Sheffield City Region and Cambridgeshire & Peterborough respectively.

Under the plan, each quarterly meeting would be hosted by a different leader in a different part of the UK.

In his invitation letter to colleagues, Mr Sarwar said: “We reject divisive nationalism and Tory ideology that wants to pull communities apart, because we believe in solidarity between every community in the UK.

“People in Sheffield have the same aspirations for their families and as those in Glasgow, Swansea or London, and we want every part of our country to be the best place to grow up in and the best place to grow old in.

“So by coming together we can learn from Mark Drakeford on how Welsh Labour delivered that sensational result to keep us in power in Cardiff Bay.

“We can learn from Andy Burnham’s bid to end rough sleeping on the streets of Manchester.

“We can learn from Sadiq Khan on how to bring our diverse communities together. And we can learn how Labour is transforming towns and cities in places such as Preston.

“I believe this forum is an opportunity to strengthen our party, which in turn will strengthen the bonds of the United Kingdom and help deliver a Labour government led by Keir Starmer that will transform every community in the UK.”

Mr Sarwar said the inaugural event should be hosted by Ms Brabin, allowing those able to attend in person to “hit the doorsteps” in the Batley & Spen Westminster byelection.

Labour is defending a 3,525 majority over the Tories in a byelection triggered by Ms Brabin’s election as mayor.

The party has chosen Kim Leadbetter, the sister of the Jo Cox to contest the July 1 vote.

Ms Cox, who won the seat, was murdered in 2016 by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair.

Mr Sarwar’s proposal comes on the back of Gordon Brown also stepping up his work in defence of the Union.

The former Labour PM relaunched his thinktank Our Scottish Future as a pro-UK campaign movement aimed at the swing voters of ‘middle Scotland’.

He also had a controversial meeting with Prince William at Holyroodhouse last week, prompting criticism of ‘poor judgment’ on both sides from Alba leader Alex Salmond.

SNP MSP Rona Mackay said: “Just as the SNP Scottish Government is working to take Scotland out of the pandemic and into recovery, Anas Sarwar is being distracted by trying to settle squabbles in the Labour party.

“If senior Labour politicians are looking for someone to give them tips on how to win elections, Anas Sarwar is not the person they should be turning to given that he led Labour to their worst results in a Holyrood election just last month.”

Tory MSP Russell Findlay added: “For the fifth Scottish Parliament election in a row, Labour went backwards and lost seats.

“After leading his party to their worst ever result in Scotland, Anas Sarwar definitely needs help from someone.

“He’s been cosying up to the SNP for months and now he’s trying to forge closer ties with the red nationalists in Wales. Across Scotland and the UK, Labour are becoming more and more out-of-touch with the needs of working class people. By sitting on the fence and refusing to pick a side, they are increasingly irrelevant.

“While the Scottish Conservatives are working across the country on building Scotland’s real alternative to the SNP, Labour are turning inward and desperately trying to fix their broken, aimless party.”