Is Anas Sarwar's House of Lords promotion failing upwards?

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is set to be announced as the latest ministerial appointment in new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Cabinet.

Sarwar’s decision to swap Holyrood for the House of Lords may be big news, but it isn’t a huge surprise.

Ever since he led his party to its worst-ever Scottish election result in May it became a question of when, not if he would go.

What has put many on the back foot is the timing of this – many had expected him to stay on longer.

Then-Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar visiting a Unite picket line at Polmadie Refuse Depot after bin men in Glasgow went on strike over pay and conditions in August 24, 2022. It came after Sir Keir Starmer told senior Labour figures not to attend picket lines during the summer. James Chapelard

So the manner of his departure has angered some, particularly given he had ruled out the prospect of heading the Lords during the election campaign.

He was, of course, the first senior Labour figure to call publicly for Keir Starmer to quit.

Taking a UK Government post adds to the sense that the new Prime Minister is rewarding those who aided his path to power.

It has certainly angered a number of his colleagues who feel this has been engineered for a long time, and that he is failing upwards.

His departure also opens up the possibility of a potentially bruising leadership contest with the timetable for that still to be decided.

Sarwar has been Scottish Labour leader since 2021 and previously said he planned to stay in his post after Starmer’s resignation in June.

‘Terrible look’

The SNP said it would be a “terrible look” to appoint Sarwar.

The party’s deputy leader, Keith Brown MSP, said: “This is a terrible look for Andy Burnham, who waxed lyrical about a new politics and devolving power – he’s just pulled the most undemocratic trick in the Westminster book.

“Anas Sarwar led Scottish Labour to their worst ever election defeat, but as is always the case with the Labour Party, there’s always a cushty number in the House of Lords.”

Reform UK Scotland deputy leader and MSP for Glasgow Thomas Kerr MSP said: “Only weeks ago, Anas Sarwar stood before the people of Glasgow asking for their trust and insisting that his future was here in Scotland. Today, those same voters will rightly feel betrayed.”