ANAS Sarwar is expected to announce his bid to become the next leader of Scottish Labour after the party fixes a timetable for replacing Richard Leonard today.
The Glasgow MSP, who lost to Mr Leonard in the last contest four years ago, was said by friends to be “actively considering” a run after being approached to stand.
Steeped in politics from childhood as the son of former Glasgow Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, the 37-year-old former NHS dentist was already the clear frontrunner.
Central Scotland list MSP Monica Lennon, her party’s health spokesperson at Holyrood, is also touted as a possible candidate but has yet to signal her intentions.
With the Holyrood election campaign due to start in earnest in March, the leadership could be decided in a few weeks if there is a contest, or a few days if Mr Sarwar is unchallenged.
One senior source said they expected the next leader to be in place by the end of February even if there was a fight for the position, given the time pressure.
Scottish Labour’s procedures committee was due to meet last night to draw up a recommended timetable for a potential contest.
Their report is due to be considered today by the party’s ruling body, the Scottish Executive Committee (SEC), which will finalise the plan.
SEC members are under pressure to agree a truncated timetable with a short window for nominations and a rapid contest if one is required.
READ MORE: Richard Leonard Quits: Candidates to be the next Scottish Labour leader
When Mr Sarwar and Mr Leonard fought for the position after Kezia Dugdale resigned in August 2017, it took almost four months before Mr Leonard was finally elected the winner.
At the time, Mr Leonard’s left-wing background and trade union support chimed with party members who had backed Jeremy Corbyn as leader.
Although the early favourite, Mr Sarwar was caught off guard by a backlash to his personal wealth and rows over his children’s private education, his family’s business, and his opposition to Mr Corbyn.
A controversy over lucrative dividends he received from the family cash and carry firm grew so intense he irrevocably transferred his quarter shareholding - valued at up to £4.8m - to his three young children to that he could not benefit from it.
However the former Hutchesons Grammar pupil is a more seasoned, battle-scarred character now.
Mr Leonard resigned with immediate effect on Thursday after failing to make an impact with the electorate and two successive election losses.
He survived a rebellion by four of his MSPs last September and vowed to carry on into the election, but quit after saying he had reflected on his position over Christmas and concluded it was in the best interests of the party that someone else take over.
He was the ninth Scottishleader since the advent of devolution in 1999.
It is understood the loss of support from the trade union movement which had once backed him, and in particular his own union the GMB, was pivotal.
The Times reported yesterday that UK leader Sir Keir Starmer recently told Mr Leonard he had lost confidence in him, although this had been Sir Keir’s position for some time.
It was also reported that Mr Leonard quit after big party donors told senior party figures in a conference call on Wednesday that he should go.
However the Herald understands the timing of the call was largely coincidental, and the donors had made such rumblings before.
READ MORE: Richard Leonard quits as Scottish Labour leader
One source said Mr Leonard appeared to have genuinely decided over Christmas to quit, as he did not try to stop his general secretary or head of communications from resigning for varuous reasons, suggesting he realised that he would be next.
“It came as quite a shock because there was no sign of it,” said one MSP.
“Maybe he did reflect over Christmas because the run-up to an election is a really tough period, it’s just crazy.”
First elected as an MSP in 2016, Mr Leonard intends to stay on at Holyrood until at least 2026.
As part of behind-the-scenes negotiations on Thursday morning, he was guaranteed the top spot on Labour’s Central Scotland list, all but ensuring his re-election, despite this being a perk of being the leader.
With barely 100 days until polling and Labour jostling with the Tories in the polls for third place, interim leader Jackie Baillie has said the party faces the “fight of our lives”.
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