Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has resigned with immediate effect, simply months earlier than the subsequent set of Scottish Parliament elections.
In an announcement, he stated deciding to go was “not an easy decision” however the “right one for me and for the party”.
Mr Leonard, who had been occasion leader since 2017 and is an MSP for Central Scotland, had confronted calls from some fellow MSPs to go.
In September, James Kelly, Daniel Johnson and Jenny Marra all demanded that he stop.
At the time, Mr Leonard vowed to guide the occasion into the subsequent set of Holyrood elections in May.
But he has now taken the choice to step apart.
“I have thought long and hard over the Christmas period about what this crisis means, and the approach Scottish Labour takes to help tackle it,” Mr Leonard defined in his resignation assertion.
“I’ve additionally thought-about what the hypothesis about my management does to our means to get Labour’s message throughout. This has change into a distraction.
“I retain my religion within the Labour Party because the occasion that gives hope to individuals and that continues to be the one automobile for the realisation of that hope.”
Sir Keir Starmer stated Mr Leonard ought to really feel “very proud” of his achievements as leader of Scottish Labour.
“I want to thank Richard for his service to our occasion and his unwavering dedication to the values he believes in,” the Labour leader stated.
“Richard has led Scottish Labour by means of some of the difficult and troublesome durations in our nation’s historical past, together with a normal election and the pandemic.
“Even from opposition, he has achieved a considerable amount for which he should be very proud.”
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