During the Westminster election Labour in Scotland made a lot of noise claiming that a vote for them would bring Scotland into the “heart of Westminster Government” (and in doing so, acknowledging that our Scottish parties have never been part of the UK’s government since Scotland was persueded to join the union).

So Labour have taken their turn to control Westminster. What has this meant for Scotland? How does Labour see Scotland in its own party organisation?

Scotland in a Westminster Government

There are 121 official Government positions in Westminster (really!). These are illustrated above. The contributions of Labour MPs in Scotland are shown with a star. First let’s ignore the “Scotland” Department and it’s pair (Murray and McNeil) – the Scotland Department is simply there to make sure Westminster actually delivers its retained powers to Scotland. It does nothing new that any previous Westminster government would not have done.

So who’s left. Only three of the remaining 118 are Labour MPs from Scotland! And of those, only one is a Minister of State (Alexander) – and even then, he doesn’t get to attend the top table in Cabinet. Of the others Shanks gets to be a “Parliamentary Under Secretary of State” – the most junior governmennt role – and McCluskey gets to be an “Assistant Whip” – again, one of the most juniour roles.

Where does that leave the remaining 32 Labour MPs in Scotland? Well, making the best of it on the “Back Benches” – hoping they can be seen by the party bosses talking big in a Committee, or being toady to them in the main House of Commons. Basically, they’re simply “rank and file”. Treated as voting fodder there simply to support Labour’s decisions in Parliament. Told how to vote by their party whips, and disciplined if they don’t. And if Labour in England want something that negatively affects Scotland? Tough. Speak up and they’re likely to be punished – and in the worst case, kicked out of the Parliamentary Labour Party. So do they ever speak up? You can guess the answer:

If it isn’t clear from above, its true to say that if they want to continue their career at Westminster, Labour MPs in Scotland do what the party in England tells them. No debate. The only party at Westminster with MPs from Scotland that isn’t told what to do is The SNP.

Scotland in the Labour Party

The Labour Party is registered in England and its HQ is there. It has also registered a branch office in Scotland so it can put forward candidates for Scottish Parliament and Council elections. So how is it managed? Who decides its policy?

At the top of Labour’s organisation is its National Executive Committe (NEC). Subject to the control and directions of Labour’s conference, it is the top authority in deciding how the party is run. It has 40 seats. Currently only one is reserved for Scotland – and this seat is held by Jackie Bailie. Not even Labour’s branch office manager in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, gets a seat!

Politically Labour is run by the Westminster Prime Minister and her/his front bench. As illustrated above, no one from Scotland is represented here. The PM and team are supposed to represent the policies voted on by Labour at its conference, and put forward by its National Policy Forum (NPF). In reality it often ignores or amends these policy proposals and the real power sits with the PM’s unelected head of political strategy (Morgan McSweeney) and his team – who don’t sit on the NPF and sometimes don’t even attend Labour conferences.

So formally the NPF develops party policy. It has a highly inclusive 166 seats. How many are reserved for Scotland? A mere 10 (6%).

The only parties operating in Scotland that are dedicated to Scottish opinion and our prioities? That’ll be our Scottish parties – The SNP, Scottish Greens, Alba and the ISP.

Sources

How Labour works: it’s Rule Book. Latest version: https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Rule-Book-2024.pdf