Anas Sarwar, the former Scottish Labour leader, has reaffirmed his call for the House of Lords to be abolished even after accepting a peerage that allows him to serve as a minister in Andy Burnham's government. Speaking to BBC Scotland News, Sarwar insisted his position had not shifted despite the apparent contradiction between his past criticism of the upper chamber and his new role within it.
Sarwar stepped down last month to take up the post of Minister of State for Trade, a move that followed his earlier resignation as Scottish Labour leader. As previously reported, Sarwar left Holyrood for the House of Lords in order to take on the ministerial position, a decision that sparked criticism from opposition parties.
Why did Sarwar accept a peerage after calling for the Lords to be scrapped?
Sarwar maintains that his long-standing preference has always been for a reformed upper chamber rather than the Lords in its current form. He told BBC Scotland News:
I have always said that there should be a senate of the nations and regions. I still have that view.
This position echoes comments he made in 2022, when he described the Lords as an institution with no place in modern politics and said it must be abolished, according to a national broadcaster's report. Scottish Labour's own website has previously stated that a Labour government would abolish the Lords and replace it with an elected second chamber, according to a Yahoo News report. Separately, the UK Parliament passed the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026, which removed the remaining hereditary connection to the chamber and introduced other related changes, according to official legislation records.
Asked whether he had misled voters by saying before the Holyrood election that he would not accept a peerage, Sarwar responded:
My aspiration and ambition was to be first minister of Scotland. Clearly I failed in that aspiration and now I want to make sure that this Labour government is a success and we deliver for people in every part of our great country.
Downing Street sources have indicated that Sarwar was granted the peerage specifically so he could serve as a business minister within Burnham's administration, according to a Telegraph report. The role of a minister outside the Cabinet reportedly carries a salary of up to £81,485, according to a National report. Sarwar has separately clarified that his objection is to the Lords remaining unchanged, saying it should be replaced with a senate of nations and regions rather than simply retained as it stands, according to a Scotsman interview.
What did Sarwar say about leading Scottish Labour?
Speaking earlier at an Edinburgh Fringe event, Sarwar described leading Scottish Labour as the toughest job in British politics, tougher, he said, than leading the UK Labour Party in opposition.
People talk about the hardest job in British politics, and so often I heard people say the hardest job in British politics was being the leader of the UK Labour Party in opposition. Honestly, hand on heart – because I've done it for five years – the hardest job in British politics is being the leader of the Scottish Labour Party. And for so many reasons, it is the hardest job in the world.
Labour won 17 seats at the May election, four fewer than in 2021, while the SNP secured 58. Sarwar's resignation statement acknowledged his own share of responsibility for the result, which he called the worst in Holyrood's history, according to a National report. Notably, Scottish Labour's 2026 manifesto foreword still names Sarwar as party leader, according to the party's manifesto document, despite his departure from the post.
How has the party reacted to his departure?
Sarwar's exit has not gone unchallenged within Scottish politics. Rivals including the SNP and Greens have accused him of hypocrisy and deceit over his move to the Lords, while his exit has triggered a fresh leadership contest and renewed debate over the party's Holyrood defeat.
Having stepped down as a Glasgow MSP, Sarwar said he did not intend to become a former leader who constantly offered public advice to his successor.
The best thing you can do to support someone in that job is be available to give them advice, be supportive of them. If they ask you to help, always help them; go out of your way to help them but don't be a public commentator on them.
In conversation with comedian and podcaster Matt Forde, Sarwar conceded that Scottish Labour had struggled to convey its message during the spring campaign, a task made harder by scandals engulfing the UK government under Sir Keir Starmer. Sarwar became the first senior Labour figure to publicly call for Starmer's resignation in February. Starmer subsequently resigned in June and was succeeded by Andy Burnham last month, after which Sarwar confirmed his new ministerial role, writing on X that he was delighted and honoured to have been asked by the prime minister to serve every part of the United Kingdom as Minister of State for Trade.
Who is competing to replace Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader?
Three MSPs, Michael Marra, Joe Fagan and Monica Lennon, are now vying to take over as Scottish Labour leader. While declining to back any particular candidate, Sarwar urged the contenders and their supporters to avoid infighting as the contest intensifies.
I think genuinely the three people who are standing, I've got a lot of time for. I think they are able, talented individuals. The only thing that I would say to all three of them and to all 17 MSPs is your relationship with each other, your ability to work with each other and to look out for each other is going to be crucial. So, yes, go through a full leadership election, but think about what happens the day after it, not just what happens during it.
Lennon, who has yet to secure sufficient backing to appear on the members' ballot, has described the leadership race as a search for the party's missing soul. She lost her seat in the election but is set to return to Holyrood after the summer recess, filling the Glasgow list vacancy left by Sarwar's departure. Writing in the Sunday Mail, Lennon said the party's political conversation had again turned inward, with politicians and activists searching through the rubble to locate what she called the party's missing soul, adding that having lost sight of its roots, the party struggles to place itself in Scotland's future, but that this identity crisis need not mark the end of its story, since people still need the party and it still needs them.
What happens next?
Sarwar is expected to formally resign his Scottish Labour leadership position, since Holyrood rules prevent holding a dual mandate as both a peer and an MSP, according to a Telegraph report. The party's ruling Scottish Executive Committee has said a new leader will be confirmed by its conference on 19 September 2026. Nominations opened for a two-week window from Monday 3 August, with party members and supporters set to vote in the leadership ballot from 28 August until 17 September 2026.
- Sarwar left his post as Scottish Labour leader to become UK Minister of State for Trade
- He accepted a peerage despite previously calling for the Lords to be abolished
- Labour won 17 Holyrood seats in May, four fewer than in 2021, against the SNP's 58
- Michael Marra, Joe Fagan and Monica Lennon are contesting the leadership
- A new leader is due to be confirmed by 19 September 2026, with voting running from 28 August to 17 September
