Sarah Boyack today warmly congratulated Jim Murphy as the New Scottish Labour Leader.
She said outside the Emirates Arena:
“Jim has the hardest task of any our past leaders in reshaping our party from its very core to be fit for purpose. Nicola Sturgeon must be stopped in her tracks in her attempt to wipe us out, because Scotland needs a strong Labour Party with its feet firmly on the ground to re engage and build support with voters. Jim has my total support in doing that, and I will continue to serve the party 100%.
“I am obviously disappointed at not winning. As the contest progressed, I realised that my support would be squeezed. I have no regrets in standing however, and have enjoyed my part in creating a vibrant and constructive debate amongst members and setting out my vision for Scotland. My aim was to bring my experience and substantial policy ideas to the party.
“That is what I have done with my ‘100 ideas’ document and my wider contribution. The positive feedback I have had has been uplifting.”
Andrew Burns, Campaign Manager, said on behalf of her campaign team
“We’ve been incredibly proud of the consistently positive and policy-led campaign that Sarah has undertaken. There is no question that she has raised the quality of the debate in this leadership process, and we look forward to Sarah continuing to play an important role in Scottish Labour Party policy implementation.
We’re extremely grateful to all those who encouraged Sarah to enter this contest, and to those who supported her throughout – it would undoubtedly have been a lesser process without her presence.”
Sarah should be proud of the contribution she made to the debate. She has a huge contribution to make to the Labour Party and to Scotland in the years ahead.
Thanks Sarah and your campaign team for an intellectually rich contribution to the leadership debate. I hope Sarah’s emphasis on environmental sustainability and the strengthening of local government will help inform Labour’s future programme.
Decided to back Sarah early on in the campaign and never had any reason to rethink that position. She was possibly the best performer of the three in the media and brought great credit to the Party. All three candidates candidates contributed important emphases. I am glad that Jim now has such a clear mandate to lead and we will all be 100% behind him and alongside him in his mission to create a fairer Scotland