Richard Leonard

rdf:langString Richard Leonard

rdf:langString Richard Leonard

rdf:langString Richard Leonard

rdf:langString Westow, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

rdf:langString Shadow Minister for Economy

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Official portrait, 2016

rdf:langString British

rdf:langString Scottish Labour frontbench roles

rdf:langString for Central Scotland

rdf:langString Convener of the Public Audit Committee

rdf:langString I think we need to see some new blood in here. One of the things the last few days have taught me is we need to see an injection of new voices, a more diverse profile of people.

rdf:langString Leonard on his internal Scottish Parliament critics

rdf:langString Karen Leonard

rdf:langString Convener of the Public Audit Committee

rdf:langString Richard Leonard (born January 1962) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland region, since 2016. He ideologically identifies as a socialist, democrat and internationalist. Born and raised in Yorkshire, Leonard won a scholarship to be educated at Pocklington School. He moved to Scotland in the 1980s to study Politics and Economics at the University of Stirling. Following his graduation, he worked as an aide to Labour politician Alex Falconer before working as a trade unionist for the Scottish Trades Union Congress and GMB Scotland. From 2002 to 2003, he served as Chair of the Scottish Labour Party when he was active in opposing the Iraq War. After unsuccessfully contesting Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley in 2011, he was elected at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election on the Central Scotland regional list. Leonard defeated Anas Sarwar to win the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election, succeeding Kezia Dugdale, and he later took on the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work. After replacing Jackie Baillie in a 2018 frontbench reshuffle, Baillie was elected as his new deputy leader in 2020. A supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, Leonard was credited for shifting Scottish Labour leftwards but criticised for poor results in the 2019 European Parliament election and 2019 general election. He faced a motion of no confidence in his leadership put forward by members of the political right of the party but the motion failed to gain enough support. He remained as leader until standing down in January 2021 prior to the forthcoming Scottish Parliament election.