The Organisation of Scottish Labour is a body established under the national rules of the UK Labour Party.
Timeline
Origins and evolution of Scottish Labour
In August 1888, after contesting the Mid Lanarkshire by-election, Keir Hardie co-founded with Liberal MP Robert Cunninghame-Graham the Scottish Labour Party (1888) with the support of the Scottish Miners' Federation, local trade unions, the Dundee Radical Association, the Scottish Home Rule Association, Crofters Party MPs, and the Scottish Land Restoration League. In December 1888, the Scottish Socialist Federation (SSF) was formed by members of the Social Democratic Federation. In August 1891, the Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party (SUTCLP) was formed. In July 1892 general election, the SUTCLP gained support from the SSF. In January 1893, Keir Hardie and others formed the Independent Labour Party (ILP). In March 1893, the SUTCLP dissolved, advising members to join the ILP. In 1893, the Scottish Socialist Federation affiliated with the ILP. In 1894, the Scottish Labour Party of 1888 had by then made little impact and dissolved itself into the ILP. In March 1897, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) was formed in Glasgow, as a result of a political dispute with the TUC regarding political representation for the Labour movement. In 1899, the STUC with the ILP's Scottish branch formed the parliamentary campaign group Scottish Workers' Representation Committee (SWRC) In 1900, the ILP played a central role in the formation of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) which was created by ILP Chairman Hardie's motion to create a single Labour parliamentary body that was passed at a special conference organised by the TUC. ILP nominee Ramsay MacDonald was elected as Secretary of the LRC. In 1906, the LRC is renamed the Labour Party, with the ILP becoming a Labour party affiliate and providing much of its activist base. In 1909, the SWRC was dissolved and merged with the Labour Party. In 1915, a subordinate Scottish Advisory Council (SAC) was formed by the Labour Party. In 1918, Scotland was formalised a "region" in the Labour party constitution and the SAC was renamed as the Scottish Council of the Labour Party In 1994, the Scottish Council of the Labour Party was renamed the Scottish Labour Party. In 2011, the Scottish Labour Party carried out a review of its organisation and elected its first ever overall leader (Johann Lamont).
Structure
UK Labour Party Head Office, London UK Labour Leader's Office UK National Executive Committee Scottish Labour Party Head Office, Glasgow Scottish Labour Leader's Office Scottish Executive Committee Affiliated STUC trade unions, socialist societies and the Co-operative Party Scottish Policy Forum Policy commissions & local policy forums Scottish Labour Conference Scottish Labour Press Office Labour Support Unit, Scottish Parliament Constituency Labour Parties (CLP) Branch Labour Parties (BLP)
Scottish Executive Committee The Scottish Executive Committee is the governing body of the Scottish Labour Party, responsible for administrative matters and strategic policy direction. The SEC officially meets every second month, with much of day-to-day party business and operations undertaken in groups and commissions. The SEC has three different membership sections – Constituency Labour Party (CLP) members, elected members and trade unions and affiliates. It is further split into the local government sub-committee and the constitution, fundraising and campaigns working groups.
Membership as of 2021:
Office Bearers Cara Hilton – Chair of the Scottish Labour Party Karen Whitefield – Vice-chair Cathy Peattie – Treasurer
Elected Members Anas Sarwar – Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Jackie Baillie – Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Ian Murray – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Maureen Devlin – Local Government David Ross – Local Government Meta Ramsay – Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) Group Representative Jenny Marra – Scottish Parliament Group Representative Mark Griffin – Scottish Parliament Group Representative
Constituency Labour Party members Johanna Baxter – West of Scotland/Mid Scotland & Fife Cara Hilton – West of Scotland/Mid Scotland & Fife Lina Nass – North East Scotland/Highlands & Islands Marion Sporing – North East Scotland/Highlands & Islands Suzan King – Central Scotland/Glasgow James Adams – Central Scotland/Glasgow Scott Arthur – Lothians/South of Scotland Ann Henderson – Lothians/South of Scotland
Trade Union Section Drew Smith – GMB Cathy Murphy GMB Jackson Cullinane – Unite Siobhan McCready – Unite Simon Macfarlane – Unison Maggie Cook – Unison Jacqueline Martin – USDAW Karen Whitefield – USDAW Cathy Peattie – CWU John McCue – ASLEF
Scottish Labour Women's Committee
Lorna Robertson Monique McAdams
Co-operative Party & Socialist Societies Ben Procter Katherine Sangster
Scottish Young Labour Coll Mcail Lauren Harper
Chairs of Scottish Labour ChairVice-chair 1917 Robert Stewart 1918–1923 1924 William Shaw 1925–1928 1929 Joseph Waugh H. Pilkington 1930 1931 A. W. Brady 1932–1936 1937 Mary Auld 1938 James McInnes 1939–1944 1945 John Lang Jean Mann 1946 John Ross Sinclair Shaw 1947 R. A. Raffan 1948–1950 1951 Margaret Hyde 1952 Tom Hollywood 1953 John Lang 1954 Eustace Willis Magnus Fairnie 1955 M. McNeill Robert Young 1956 Robert Young John Cullion 1957 1958 Jean Saggar 1959 John D. Pollock 1960 1961 Jenny Auld 1962 W. J. Fraser 1963 R. Irvine 1964 Richard Stewart 1965 David Lambie 1966 M. Lonsdale 1967 A. Bell 1968 A. Mackie 1969 J. Reid 1970 C. Donnett 1971 John D. Pollock 1972 P. Talbot 1973 Allan Campbell McLean F. Gromill 1974 F. Gromill Tom Fulton 1975 Tom Fulton E. McKenzie 1976 Charlotte Haddow George Robertson 1977 George Robertson Janey Buchan 1978 Janey Buchan Sam Gooding 1979 Sam Gooding Donald Macgregor 1980 Donald Macgregor 1981 George Galloway James McCafferty 1982 James McCafferty Gordon Brown 1983 Gordon Brown 1984 Doug Henderson John Walker 1985–1986 1987 Bill Speirs 1988 1989 Mark Lazarowicz 1990–1994 1995 Rhona Brankin 1996–20012002Carol WrightRichard Leonard2003Richard LeonardPat Devine2004Pat DevineSandra Macdonald2005Sandra MacdonaldKarie Murphy2006Karie MurphyStuart Clark2007Stuart ClarkDave Watson2008Dave WatsonClaudia Beamish2009Claudia BeamishPhilomena Muggins2010Philomena MugginsVictoria Jamieson2011–12Victoria JamiesonJackson Cullinane2013Jackson CullinaneJamie Glackin2014–16Jamie GlackinJacqueline Martin2017Linda StewartKevin Lindsay2018Linda StewartCathy Peattie2019Cathy PeattieCara Hilton2020Cara HiltonIan Miller2021Cara HiltonKaren Whitefield2022Karen WhitefieldScott Arthur
Scottish Policy Forum The Scottish Policy Forum (SPF) is a body of the Scottish Labour Party responsible for developing a rolling policy programme on devolved matters. The Scottish Annual Conference approves policies of the SPF programme every year with the Scottish Executive Committee (in conjunction with a committee from the Scottish Parliament Labour Group) deciding which items of the programme are to be incorporated in Labour's manifesto for the Scottish Parliament elections. The SPF policy-making process is led by the 80 members elected from all sections of the party. The SPF establishes policy commissions to draw together policy discussion documents for consultation over three stages. The SPF is subordinate and feeds reports to the National Policy Forum.
General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party The General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party, subordinate to the General Secretary of the Labour Party, is the administrative head and the most senior permanent staff member of the Scottish Labour Party. The General Secretary is responsible for running the party's organisation: legal affairs, staff management, campaigns, conferences, and liaising with the UK party. They also act as the Registered Treasurer, responsible for the party's financial accounts. General SecretaryNotes1914–1931Ben Shaw1932–1939Arthur Woodburn1939–1951John Taylor1951–1971Willie Marshall1977–1988Helen Liddell1988–1992Murray Elder1992–1998Jack McConnellLeft role in 1998 to work for 9 months at lobbying firm Public Affairs Europe Ltd, owned by Beattie Media and Maclay Murray & SpensIn 1999, elected as Motherwell and Wishaw MSP and became First Minister of Scotland in 2001Elevated to House of Lords as Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale in 20101998–1999Alex RowleySacked as general secretary after setting out proposals for giving Scottish Labour more freedom from London controlWent on to become a Fife councillor, Leader of Fife Council, and MSP for CowdenbeathElected Scottish Labour deputy leader in 2014 however stood down in 2017 following allegations of misconduct from a former partner1999–2008Joined the Labour Party as a 16-year-old junior shorthand typistAs assistant general secretary, became acting general secretary in June 1999 to coordinate 1999 European election campaignFormally appointed as general secretary in November 1999Stood down at 2008 Scottish Labour conference in Aviemore in March2008–2012Colin SmythDumfries and Galloway councillor for Nith WardElected as a regional member for South Scotland at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election2012–2013Brian Roy (acting)2013–2014Ian Price2014Fiona Stanton (acting)2014–2019Brian Roy2019–2020Lorna Finlayson (interim)2020Michael Sharpe2021Drew Smith (Acting)2021-2023James Kelly2023-2024John Paul McHugh2024-PresentKate Watson
Staff Press Office Media Monitoring Unit Rebuttal Unit Regional press teams Research Unit (policy and constitutional issues) Administrative support Scottish Parliamentary Labour Support Unit (formerly SPLP Resource Unit)
Director of CommunicationsNotes1998April 1998 to 21 May 1998Headhunted by Donald Dewar and Gordon BrownRan Labour's Scottish press campaign in the 1992 general electionFour years as an aide/researcher to Gordon Brown, alongside Pat McFadden and David MilibandHead of STV news production until April 1998 Returned to STV from 1998 until 2004Worked for Oxfam from 2004 until 2006, when he joined Al Jazeera1998–1999Lorraine DavidsonJuly 1998 to July 19992000–2002John Scott From February 20002001–2005Colin Edgar2006–2007Steven Lawther2007Brian Lironi2007Matthew Marr2007Gavin Yates2007–2008Tony McElroy2008Rami Okasha2019Conrad Landin Secretary of State for ScotlandUnder-Secretary of State for Scotland1997–1999Donald DewarHenry McLeishBrian WilsonHelen Liddell1999–2001Dr John ReidBrian Wilson2001–2003Helen LiddellGeorge FoulkesAnne McGuire2003–2006Alistair DarlingAnne McGuireDavid Cairns2006–2007Douglas AlexanderDavid Cairns2007–2008Des BrowneDavid Cairns2008–2010Jim MurphyAnn McKechin Special Advisers to Donald Dewar
As Secretary of State for Scotland (1997–1999):
Wendy Alexander Murray Elder David Whitton
As First Minister (1999–2000):
John Rafferty – Chief of staff Philip Chalmers – Head of the Scottish Executive's strategic communications unit (previously director of polling and marketing for the Scottish Labour Party) David Whitton Brian Fitzpatrick John MacLaren Professor Donald Maclennan Neil Gillam Chris Winslow
Scottish Parliament elections 1999
Matthew Taylor – Election strategist Douglas Alexander – Election coordinator Donald Dewar – Secretary of State for Scotland Gordon Brown – Chancellor of the Exchequer Brian Wilson – Minister of State for Scotland John Reid – Minister of State for Transport Alex Rowley – General Secretary Lesley Quinn – Assistant General Secretary Paul McKinney – Head of communications David Whitton – Media adviser to Donald Dewar Pat McFadden – Policy adviser to Donald Dewar John Rowan – Scottish Telephone Bank Organiser Hilary Perrin – Tours Bridget Sweeny – Visits Ian Austin – Deputy director of communications Ed Miliband – Rebuttal John Rafferty – Chief of staff to Donald Dewar Ann-Marie Whyte – Administration and office manager