Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar made lord and UK minister

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been made a lord and minister in Andy Burnham’s government, Downing Street has said.

Lord Sarwar, who has been Scottish Labour leader since 2021, was among the first to call for Sir Keir Starmer to stand down in February.

He joins the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in the new Prime Minister’s Cabinet.

Insight Ewan Petrie Political Correspondent

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.

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.

Watch
Is Anas Sarwar’s House of Lords promotion failing upwards?

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.

In his statement released late on Wednesday night, he said he was disappointed and sorry Scottish Labour didn’t achieve a better outcome in May’s election.

“I take my fair share of responsibility for that,” he said.

First Minister of Scotland John Swinney hit out at the “hypocrisy” of the expected appointment earlier on Wednesday.

Speaking to the Press Association, the First Minister said: “I think what it demonstrates is an appalling level of judgment by Anas Sarwar.

“He said before the (Holyrood) election he had absolutely no interest in going to the House of Lords, he only wanted to be first minister of Scotland.

“Then, after the election, Anas Sarwar has accepted a place in the House of Lords – a body, by the way, he wants to abolish.

“That is an incredible level of hypocrisy and it just illustrates what I think the Prime Minister is trying to address, which is the fact that politicians say one thing one minute and then do another thing the next minute, when it suits them.

“That, I thought, was what Andy Burnham was trying to address and to solve.

“But instead, Andy Burnham has exacerbated that sentiment within our society.”

Downing Street announced 47 new ministerial appointments late on Wednesday night, along with 17 re-appointments.

Lord Sarwar said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been asked by the Prime Minister to serve every part of the United Kingdom as the Minister of State for Trade.

“Throughout my life, I have only ever been motivated by public service. The opportunity to serve our country is all I have ever asked.

“That’s why this is an opportunity I humbly accept.

“I’ve seen how Andy Burnham has worked to empower communities, to deliver change, to brings jobs and economic growth through working with businesses, to make Manchester a great place to live and do business. We have a job of work to do to replicate that in every corner of the United Kingdom.”

Acting leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jackie Baillie, said further details of the leadership election will be shared in due course.