Scottish Labour leadership hopefuls Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar will go head to head tonight in a televised debate where they will lay out their policies and say how they would lead their party.
As ballots open, both MSPs are seeking to take Scottish Labour into the next Holyrood election in May and improve the fortunes of a party that has slipped to third place at Holyrood from it's once lofty peak as the dominant force on the country's political landscape.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour hopeful Anas Sarwar would reach out to Richard Leonard to try and 'unite' party
But how do they differ? And what will be the talking points on the night. Here's all you need to know about the two candidates before the main event:
The contenders: Monica Lennon
Elected to Holyrood on the central regional list in 2016, the 40-year-old was previously a planning officer and surveyor before entering politics in 2012 as a councillor for Hamilton North and East.
Ms Lennon has served as Shadow Minister for Inequalities, Spokesperson for Communities and Local Government, and Spokesperson for Health and Sport - replacing fellow candidate Anas Sarwar.
The contenders: Anas Sarwar
A former dentist and previously MP for Glasgow Central, Mr Sarwar served as deputy leader of Scottish Labour from 2011 to 2014, and was briefly Acting Leader following the resignation of Johann Lamont in October that year. He entered Holyrood in 2016 as a member from the Glasgow list.
The 37-year-old served as Spokesperson for Health and Sport and Scottish Labour Spokesperson for the Constitution. This is his secod Scottish leadership election, having lost out to eventual winner Richard Leonard in 2017.
Talking points, policies and controversies
Mr Sarwar has said that he intends to rebuild the Labour Party in Scotland, and that the focus must be on advancing equality in society rather than the cause of taking Scotland out of the union.
Ms Lennon has said she wants to focus on tackling child poverty and closing the attainment gap in schools, and to help the "lockdown generation" of children who have suffered a "year of lost learning" during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Expect the pair to clash over the quesion of independence - Mr Sarwar has been vocal in his opposition to a second referendum, while Ms Lennon has said that, while she also opposes independence, "decisions about Scotland's future within the UK should ultimately be a matter for Holyrood, not Westminster".
Mr Sarwar's wealth - he transferred shares in his family's company valued between £2.7 million and £4.8 million to a trust set up for his three children in 2017 - may also be mentioned.
How to watch the debate:
The head to head session will be screened live on the BBC Scotland Programme 'The Nine' at nine o'clock, and is hosted by Rebecca Curran. It will also will feature questions sent in by members of the public.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel