Jeremy Corbyn snubbed his only remaining Scottish MP for the job of shadow Scottish secretary yesterday.
The Labour leader chose Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd to replace Lesley Laird in the shadow cabinet role after she lost her seat in last week’s general election, rather than Edinburgh South’s Ian Murray.
Mr Murray previously served as shadow Scottish secretary for a year, but resigned in protest at Mr Corbyn’s leadership following the EU referendum in 2016.
Speaking last week after all six of his fellow Scottish Labour MPs lost their seats, Mr Murray called on Corbyn to step down as leader immediately.
He said: “This party must listen, this party must respond, or this party will die.
“The saddest indictment of this general election campaign is the delivery of a Conservative majority government with the worst prime minister this country has ever seen.”
Mr Murray, who was also the only Scottish Labour MP between 2015 and 2017, insisted that not only did Mr Corbyn have to go, “but the policy and the ideology has to go too”.
It is understood Mr Murray would have accepted the shadow Scottish secretary’s position if he had been offered it.
Mr Lloyd’s appointment is likely to underscore the faction fighting within Labour and the Scottish party’s “branch office” reputation.
