Scottish Labour leadership election: who are candidates Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar - and when will leader be announced?

Scottish Labour will announce a new leader on February 27

Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar are battling it out to become the next Scottish Labour leader (Getty Images)

Scottish Labour members are voting for a new leader following the departure of Richard Leonard in January.

Ballots are open for members to vote for their preferred candidate, with an announcement expected later this month.

They have a choice between voting for Anas Sarwar and Monica Lennon who have both modelled themselves as “change candidates”.

The winner will be charged with recovering the image of a party which has struggled at the polls in recent years.

Speaking to BBC in January they both spoke of the need for the party to change to avoid electoral failure in May’s Holyrood election.

Ms Lennon described the party as “a bit broken” while Sarwar distanced himself from the previous leader, stating “I wasn’t part of the continuity of the last few years.”

When will a new leader be elected?

Scottish Labour members have been able to vote since February 9.

Members and affiliated supporters will be able to vote until ballots close on Friday February 26.

The new leader will then be announced the following day, Saturday February 27.

Scottish Labour’s chairwoman Cara Hilton announced “the new leader will be announced on February 27 and will lead Scottish Labour into the Scottish Parliament election with a fresh energy to carry Labour’s message and take the fight to the Tories and the SNP.”

Who is Anas Sarwar?

Sarwar was born in Glasgow in 1983 and joined Labour at the age of 16.

After studying in dentistry at the University of Glasgow, Sarwar practiced as a dentist for five years, before becoming an MSP.

In 2010 Sarwar was elected to represent the constituency of Glasgow Central.

A year later he was voted as deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party, leading the party’s campaign against Scottish independence in the lead up to the 2014 referendum – a campaign which tarnished Labour’s reputation with some north of the border, as the party opted to work alongside the Conservatives.

In 2016 Sarwar was reelected and was chosen by Kezia Dugdale to work as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health.

At the 2017 leadership election Sarwar was defeated soundly by the Jeremy Corbyn backed Richard Leonard.

Who is Monica Lennon?

Monica Lennon was elected as a Member of Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland in 2016.

Born and bred in Blantyre, Monica is a former pupil of St Blane’s Primary, St John Ogilvie High School and a graduate of the University of Strathclyde. Prior to becoming an MSP Lennon worked as a town planner and worked in local and central government and the private sector.

Following her election as an MSP in 2016, Lennon was elected as the Depute Convenor of the Local Government and Communities Committee, tasked with overlooking and scrutinising new planning legislation from the Scottish Government.

Lennon campaigned to make Scotland the first country in the world to make access to sanitary products free, inrdoucing a bill in 2020 which was passed in November.

She was voted ‘New MSP of the Year’ for 2017/2018.