SCOTTISH Labour in a “constitutional muddle” which it may have to address to ensure its “political survival”, according to new research.
An analysis has examined the different constitutional strategies employed by Labour between 2012 to 2020 through speeches, newspaper articles and interviews with current and former party leaders in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London.
The “old guard” of Scottish Labour treated the SNP’s election victory in 2007 as an “aberration” and the party has never re-evaluated its position in a “meaningful way”, it found.
The study, published in the journal Nations And Nationalism, concluded: “The question of how to accommodate Scotland and Wales within the United Kingdom and ensure representation for England remains a live one, and while Labour politicians did not enter politics to talk about the constitution, to ensure their political survival, they may yet have to.”
Report author Dr Coree Brown Swan, lecturer in comparative politics at Queen’s University Belfast, said Labour had fallen into a “constitutional muddle” which it is struggling to get out of.
She said: “When we think about the history of Labour in Scotland and the success of Labour, it is the party that delivered devolution.
“But, at least in Scotland, it hasn’t reacted very well to devolution, it seems to have struggled to come up with a constitutional position that is credible.
“It is squeezed between the SNP who advance a more credible claim of standing up for Scotland and the Conservatives, who ‘out-Union’ them.
“So they can’t ‘out-nationalist’ the nationalists and they can’t ‘out-Union’ the Unionists. They are in this really difficult position.”
Brown Swan said this was a contrast to the situation with Labour in Wales, which has managed to navigate “quite challenging” circumstances despite support initially being much lower for devolution than in Scotland.
“In many ways, Welsh Labour has stolen the nationalist’s clothes in Wales – it has really positioned itself as the Welsh party, as the party which stands up and speaks for Wales and it has gleaned electoral rewards from that, it has been in power since 1999,” she said.
“Organisationally, what I think is interesting is that Scottish Labour and Welsh Labour have made efforts to adopt a constitutional position, to position themselves in this space.
“But they haven’t been helped by the centre. The UK Labour Party seems to be afraid to talk about the constitution in a way that is quite damaging.”
She added: “What I found quite striking was the sense in Scotland and Wales that something needed to be done, the party needed to adapt to devolution, particularly at the centre – and the sense in London that this wasn’t necessary, this wasn’t a core objective, that more autonomy or more influence at the centre wasn’t necessary for the parties in Scotland and Wales.”
Brown Swan said there was also a sense, particularly among the “old guard of Scottish Labour leadership”, that the Holyrood election result of 2007 in which the SNP secured the largest number of seats was an “aberration”.
“They failed to really come to grips with the fact the SNP was a political force to be reckoned with,” she said.
“This was not a ‘betrayal by the Scottish people’, it was the result of changing demographics, changing voting patterns and disillusionment with Labour leadership.”
She added: “There was perhaps the sense of ‘Scotland has made a mistake’ – as Scotland is Labour and Labour is Scotland – and voters were misled or they were deceived, instead of asking what have we done wrong, or how have we lost touch with Scottish voters?
“It feels like that moment of re-evaluation or reflection has been difficult to come by and I think part of that is because we have had elections and referendums and constant constitutional politics.
“Labour is definitely more comfortable talking about policy and now everything is through the lens of the constitutional question – and until that is settled, it is quite difficult to get a look in.”
When it comes to what Labour can do in the future, Brown Swan said there was “not a great answer”.
SHE said: “There is a decent chunk of traditional Labour supporters who support independence. There is also a decent chunk of traditional Labour voters who are staunchly Unionist.
“So there is not a good answer for Scottish Labour on the constitutional question and you see them grasp about for an answer.
“I think there is an emphasis on ideology, this isn’t what people care about, they care about cost of living, they care about education, they care about the NHS.
“That is probably true in many ways, but Scottish politics is so centred on the constitutional question and until that question is answered, I think it is going to be really hard for Labour to cut through.”
She added she believed it would be “politically very dangerous” for Labour to back another referendum taking place, even if they opposed independence.
“Both ways are fraught with peril for the Labour Party, but I guess the party has to maintain itself as a voice within Scottish politics and not let itself be marginalised,” she added. “In the absence of another election, that is quite difficult to do.
“Can Anas Sarwar stay on the political agenda for the next four years when so much of the conversation is about another referendum?”
