- Labour MSP Michael Marra has been elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour , defeating leadership rival Joe Fagan by 4,266 votes to 2,485.
- He succeeds Anas Sarwar , who stood down from the role in July to join prime minister Andy Burnham 's government as a trade minister.
- Marra takes over following Scottish Labour's worst election result in devolution history, which saw the party return just 17 MSPs.
- In his victory speech, Marra described the role as a singular honour and pledged to build movements and alliances to deliver change for a fairer Scotland .
- Prime minister Andy Burnham congratulated Marra on his victory and stated he looked forward to working closely with him to bring back hope in Scotland.
IN FULL
New Scottish Labour leader Marra promises to ‘start taking action now’