Scottish Labour Leader Calls on Starmer to Quit Over Mandelson

Anas Sarwar speaks during a press conference in Glasgow on Feb. 9.

Photographer: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar urged UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to quit his post over his controversial appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, becoming the most senior party figure so far to pull support from the beleaguered premier.

“The distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” Sarwar said on Monday in a televised press conference. “We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland,” he said, pointing to the need for Labour to win a set of Scottish Parliament elections in May.