Jim Murphy resigns as Scottish Labour leader and condemns Len McCluskey

Jim Murphy is quitting Scottish Labour. After only narrowly surviving a vote of no confidence from the party’s executive this morning, Murphy announced that after a ‘terrible election defeat’, he will still tender his resignation in a month’s time. As well as acknowledging Scottish Labour’s terrible performance in the general election, Murphy opened both barrels at Len McCluskey and Unite the Union, who he blames for some of the party’s troubles in Scotland:

‘I know in the past few days, I’ve been at the centre of a campaign by the London leadership of Unite the Union and they’re blaming myself for myself and the Scottish Labour party for the defeat of the UK Labour party in the general election. ‘That is a grotesque insult to the Scottish Labour party, it’s a grotesque insult to our thousands of volunteers from someone who pays occasional fleeting visits to our great country.’

Murphy went on to say ‘Len McCluskey and the Unite leadership are the type of people who could pick the wrong winner in a one horse race’ and suggested:

‘The leader of the Scottish Labour Party doesn’t serve at the grace of Len McCluskey and the next leader of the UK Labour Party should not be picked by Len McCluskey’

His opposite numbers, Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson, said their magnanimous farewells on Twitter:

I wish Jim Murphy all the very best for the future. Leadership is not easy and he deserves credit for standing up for what he believes in.

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) May 16, 2015

Jim Murphy announces a managed exit in order to help the party, which is to his credit. But leaves a tough gig for whoever comes next.

— Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) May 16, 2015

Although Murphy is clearly bitter about the situation, he is not running away from Scottish Labour’s problems. By resigning in a month’s time, he is hoping to introduce reforms, such as ‘a system of one member, one vote, as with the UK Labour party.’ He hopes ‘to ensure stability and to make sure there is a plan for rebuilding’. Given that Scottish Labour lost 40 seats to the SNP, including his own, it’s unsurprising that Murphy is stepping aside. The great shame is that Murphy is a Blairite but rarely had an opportunity to promote his own views during the election campaign. Instead, he was restricted by the Miliband straitjacket. Murphy’s most likely successor is Kezia Dugdale, his strong deputy leader and a MSP for the Lothian Region. One week after the election, the Labour movement across Britain is looking pretty unstable. With, Murphy declaring war on the unions, Chuka stepping out of the leadership race and MPs passing around a letter calling for a shift to the left, the Tories will be delighted at the chaos they have caused.