Neil Findlay MSP has resigned from Labour’s Scottish shadow cabinet, citing the party’s “disaster” in the general election in Scotland.
Mr Findlay – who lost to Jim Murphy in the contest to be Scottish Labour leader last year – said the party’s problems are “wide-ranging and deep” and require “radical solutions”.
The Lothian MSP said he wants to play a full part in “rebuilding” the party from the grassroots up, but can only do so “if free from the constraints of being a member of the shadow team”.
Submitting his resignation from the shadow cabinet at Holyrood – where he held the fair work, skills and training brief – Mr Findlay said: “Thursday’s election was a disaster for the Scottish Labour Party. Despite huge efforts by all concerned since 2007 we have gone from the dominant party of Scottish politics to a party with only 38 MSPs and one solitary MP.
“The problems of the Scottish Labour Party are wide ranging and deep. Radical solutions are needed and can only be implemented following a full, frank, open and democratic debate led by our loyal and hard working, committed party members – a centralised fix just won’t do.”
In Scotland, Thursday’s ballot resulted in almost total wipeout at Westminster for Labour after the SNP won a historic 56 seats.
Labour, which had taken 41 seats north of the border in 2010, was left with just one Scottish MP, with Mr Murphy and election campaign chief Douglas Alexander among those who lost their seats.
While Ed Miliband announced he is stepping down as UK leader of the party, Mr Murphy has insisted he will stay in his job in Scotland in a bid to rebuild his ailing party.
But he has already faced calls from some quarters to resign.
The trade unions Unite and Aslef today called on Mr Murphy to stand aside because it was “time for a change”.
And as the election result became clear, Ian Davidson, who lost his Glasgow South West seat for Labour to Nicola Sturgeon’s party, said Mr Murphy could not now continue as leader.