The 2008 Scottish Labour Party leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Labour Party in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, and was triggered following the

resignation Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander (born 27 June 1963) is a retired Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland ...

following a row over donations to her own leadership campaign in 2007.

Iain Gray Iain Cumming Gray (born 7 June 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021, having ...

won the contest and was announced as leader on 13 September 2008. It was the second Scottish Labour leadership election in as many years, the first being caused by the resignation of

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister ...

, following the Scottish National Party's victory over Labour in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, however in this election, Alexander was unopposed, meaning that no ballot actually took place. The timetable for the election was finalised on Monday 28 July, having been put on hold for a month to allow the party to focus on the Glasgow East by-election, which ultimately saw the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

overturn a 13,507 Labour majority to gain the seat. Nominations closed at noon on Friday 1 August with the result being declared on Saturday 13 September. A deputy leadership election was held alongside the leadership election following the resignation of

Cathy Jamieson Catherine Mary Jamieson (born 3 November 1956) is a Scottish business director, currently a director at Kilmarnock Football Club and former politician. She served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2000 to 2008. She pre ...

on 28 July.

Johann Lamont Johann MacDougall Lamont (; born 11 July 1957) is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and ...

was elected deputy leader.

Successfully nominated candidates

— 13 nominations *

— 12 nominations *

Andy Kerr Andrew Kerr (1878–1969) was an American football coach. Andrew or Andy Kerr may also refer to: * Andrew Kerr (Australian politician) (1837–1907), New South Wales politician *Andrew Kerr (broadcaster), Scottish television presenter and journalis ...

— 10 nominations Source
Scottish Labour
/small> All three declared candidates received more than five nominations from

MSPs Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

, which was the minimum requirement for them to get onto the ballot paper by the close of nominations at 12:00 UTC+1 on 1 August 2008

Nominations

Candidates are initially nominated by their parliamentary colleagues from within the

, following which Westminster MPs, constituency Labour parties and affiliated trade union organisation can submit 'supporting nominations', providing their backing to a specific candidates. These nominations can be seen in the tables below;

Result

The election took place using

Alternative Vote Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of Ranked voting, ranked preferential Electoral system, voting method. It uses a Majority rule, majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referr ...

in an electoral college, with a third of the votes allocated to Labour's MSPs, Scottish MPs and Scottish MEPs, a third to individual members of the Scottish Labour Party, and a third to individual members of affiliated organisations, mainly trade unions. In order to be elected, one candidate must have achieved a majority of votes, i.e. 50% plus 1 vote.

Round 1

Round 2

Source
The Citizen: Campaigning for Socialism
/small>

Suggested candidates not standing

The following either publicly suggested they were considering standing for election or received media speculation to that effect. However, at the close of nominations they had not been nominated by any MSPs. *

Charlie Gordon Charles Gordon (born 28 October 1951, Glasgow) is a former Scottish Labour Party politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Cathcart from 2005 to 2011. Gordon was elected to the Strathclyde Regional Coun ...

Tom McCabe Thomas McCabe (28 April 1954 – 19 April 2015) was a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Parliament from 1999 to 2001 and Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Labour Party, he ...

* Margaret Curran. Curran was considered to be a probable candidate; however, Curran subsequently stood in and lost the Glasgow East by-election on 24 July, raising questions over any leadership ambitions. Later stated she supported Gray. * Ken Macintosh. Macintosh nominated Andy Kerr on 31 July.

Timeline of events

References

{{Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour leadership election 2000s elections in Scotland Scottish Labour leadership election 2008 Scottish Labour leadership election