Saturday, 13 December 2014

Jim Murphy MP named Scottish Labour leader

Former Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has been elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour.


The MP beat competition from MSPs Neil Findlay and Sarah Boyack for the job.

Johann Lamont quit the leadership in October, accusing Westminster colleagues of treating Labour in Scotland like a "branch office".

MSP Kezia Dugdale was elected the party's new deputy leader, replacing MP Anas Sarwar, who also stood down.

Mr Murphy, who won the contest with 55.77% of the vote under the party's electoral college system, said: "Today is a fulfilment of a dream for me."

Speaking in Glasgow, the East Renfrewshire MP said: "This is a fresh start for the Scottish Labour Party.

"Scotland is changing and so too is Scottish Labour.

"I'm ambitious for our party because I'm ambitious for our country."

Mr Murphy, who has set out an ambition to defeat the SNP in the 2016 Scottish election and become first minister, will also need to win a Scottish Parliament seat.

Setting out his aim to tackle poverty and inequality, he said: "It is my driving purpose, it is our driving purpose, it's Scottish Labour's driving purpose to end that type of inequality once and for all."

Mr Murphy said: "While I'm proud that so many children from prosperous backgrounds do brilliantly at school, it makes me angry that it's three times harder to get good school results if you're from a poorer family than a prosperous family."

He added: "It's entirely unacceptable and morally wrong that the poor live nine years shorter lives than the prosperous, and are three times more likely to take their own lives.

"I'm proud of our limitless potential, but we should be unsettled that not all Scots share in it - so Scottish Labour's mission isn't just to unite our country but to build a nation created on social justice."

Mr Murphy said the most effective anti-poverty measure was a successful economy and that meant backing businesses and creating jobs.

"If redistribution is our aim, which it is, then we need more wealth, not less," he said.


BBC News

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