'Proud' former party leader announces decision to step down from Scottish Parliament

Richard Leonard said he will not be seeking re-election, but will continue to fight for the causes he believes in. He led Scottish Labour from 2017 to 2021 and was seen as a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn.

He later resigned after Sir Keir Starmer told him he did not have confidence in his leadership.

Mr Leonard, who has represented the Central Scotland region since 2016, said: “Today I am announcing that I will not be seeking re-election next year. But while I will be standing down from the Scottish Parliament, I will not be standing down from the causes I believe in and that I have spent my entire adult life fighting for.

“From the miners’ strike 40 years ago to the battle today for jobs at Grangemouth, I have always been on the side of the people and I always will be.

“That drive for democracy, for international peace and disarmament, to end poverty and inequality, that burning flame of socialism - that is what I will continue to campaign for, for as long as I have got breath in my body.

“I am proud of the work I have been involved with and it has been an honour to have the opportunity to do it. I remain convinced that we can and we will build a better, a more equal, a more democratic, a socialist society.”