Vote Marra for Leader. Change Scottish Labour
Dear Friend,
I am asking for your vote to be the leader of the Scottish Labour Party.
I am standing to renew and unite our labour movement, and to rediscover our moral purpose to build a better, more equal nation to leave as a legacy for our children.
I am proud to have received the largest number of nominations from trade unions in this election.
I also have the strongest parliamentary support, backed by the majority of Labour MPs and the largest number of my fellow MSPs.
These are people who know our movement, who know me, and know that I am best placed to unite our movement and deliver for working people in every part of Scotland. That breadth of support gives me confidence that we can bring our movement together around the task ahead.
I was born and raised in Dundee in a family shaped by teaching, trade unionism, and the Labour movement. My great-grandfather helped to found the Jute and Flax Workers Union in the city, and as a child I marched alongside my parents and sister under the banner of the EIS.
I am a lifelong trade unionist and a member of both GMB and Community. Before entering Parliament, I led anti-poverty programmes for Oxfam, spent more than a decade working in higher education and served as a councillor in Dundee. I now represent North East Scotland in the Scottish Parliament.
Trade unionism has never been an abstract part of my politics. It is about solidarity in practice: people standing together to secure dignity at work, better pay and conditions, and a fair share of the wealth they create.
That is why throughout my time in public life I have sought to work alongside trade unions and their members.
With GMB and PFA Scotland, I launched the Injury Time campaign to have brain injuries suffered by former professional footballers recognised as an industrial injury, so that players and their families can get the support they deserve. I have worked to fight for fair pay for district nurses in Angus and, in Parliament, brought GMB energy workers face to face with decision-makers to make the case for protecting skilled jobs and ensuring that Scotland’s industrial future is built with workers, not done to them.
During this leadership election I have been very clear that Scottish Labour’s test on energy policy must be to put Scottish workers first - on renewables, on oil and gas and on nuclear.
I will press the SNP for a Scottish Jobs Guarantee in public contracts to end the scandal of jobs being offshored with buses built in China, ferries built in Turkey and wind turbines built in Denmark.
I have worked with USDAW on the abuse and anti-social behaviour faced by workers in Dundee supermarkets. When the pensions of lower-paid workers at the University of Dundee were under threat, I took their case directly to the First Minister, and I have continued to work closely with UNISON, Unite, and the UCU as staff have fought to protect jobs and secure the future of the university.
As a Community member and part of the union’s group in Holyrood, I have worked on the causes that should be at the heart of our movement including workers’ rights, industrial renewal and ensuring that working people have a real voice in the decisions that shape their lives.
These relationships matter to me because I believe trade unions must be central to the future of Scottish Labour. They cannot simply be organisations we turn to at election time. Their members have knowledge of our workplaces, industries, and public services that our party needs if we are serious about changing Scotland.
The result in May hurt deeply, but we cannot respond by simply doing the same things for the next five years. We need to rebuild a Labour movement rooted in workplaces and communities across Scotland, with trade unionists helping to shape our policy, our priorities, and the kind of country we want to build.
I am not standing to manage decline or simply describe Scotland’s problems. I am standing because I believe our Labour and trade union movement can once again be the great force for change in our country.
When your ballot arrives, vote Michael Marra for Scottish Labour Leader.
Together, we can renew our movement, rediscover our moral purpose, and build the better, more equal Scotland that working people deserve.
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