FORMER Labour MSP Monica Lennon has refused to rule herself out of a run to replace Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader.

Ms Lennon made the remarks as Mr Sarwar issued a statement formally announcing that he would step down to take up Andy Burnham’s offer of a seat in the Lords and a role as the minister of state for trade.

Echoing words spoken by then Labour leader John Smith in his final speech, Mr Sarwar explained: “The opportunity to serve our country is all I have ever asked.

“That’s why this is an opportunity I humbly accept. The rise of an emboldened new right must concentrate minds.

“That’s why Andy Burnham and this Labour government must succeed.”

He went on to thank his deputy, Dame Jackie Baillie, who in turn paid tribute to his “leadership and friendship” before getting on with the business of finding his replacement.

“Further details of the leadership election will be communicated in due course,” she said.

An early frontrunner in that race is former Central Scotland MSP Ms Lennon, who he beat for the leadership in 2021.

Ms Lennon lost out in May’s Holyrood election, but as the next person on the Labour list for Glasgow, Mr Sarwar’s shift to the Lords could see her return to Holyrood.

Speaking on the Daily Record’s Planet Holyrood podcast, Ms Lennon said she had “unfinished business” at Holyrood and the prospect of a comeback is one she would “absolutely welcome.”

Asked if she would consider a second shy at the leadership, she said: “I am not going to rule myself out of anything right now.

“I want to respect other colleagues and hear what they have to say.”

Setting out her stall, Ms Lennon, who is an advocate for a separate Scottish Labour Party, said: “As we have seen, when things were going well for Keir Starmer at the election, there was a benefit for Scottish Labour.

“When things are going badly, it all turns to disaster literally overnight.

“How do you protect any organisation, in this case a political party, when different parts of the organisation are not doing so well?

“The next phase for Scottish Labour needs to be getting back to reasserting who Scottish Labour is for, why we even exist and who it is we are trying to help.”