Anas Sarwar has hired mayor Andy Burnham’s former spin doctor in a bid to learn from the Greater Manchester politician. Ross MacRae has been brought in to bolster Scottish Labour’s strategic communications on the eve of their party conference next month.
Sarwar led Scottish Labour to a stunning general election win last year, but they have since slumped in the polls after a tough start for Keir Starmer’s Government. Polls show John Swinney’s SNP on course for a fifth term in Government and Labour coming a distant second.
Sarwar has shaken up his party’s operation recently, with Kate Watson combining the role of general secretary and chief of staff to the leader.
MacRae was head of broadcast for the pro-Union Better Together during the referendum before working for eight years for Burnham and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. He then worked for Lexington Communication.
Burnham, a former Labour Cabinet Minister, has been elected mayor of Greater Manchester three times and has a reputation for standing up to central government. He famously fell out with former SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over covid restrictions.
It was reported at the weekend that Sarwar is looking to learn from Burnham in doing devolution “better” if Labour wins the Holyrood election next year. Sarwar is set to make pushing power away from Holyrood a key part of his election pitch and is looking to the mayor for ideas.
He told Scotland on Sunday: “Andy and all our mayors are doing a fantastic job representing their local communities. One of the things during the pandemic that I felt acutely was when there was added restrictions put on Greater Manchester but not the resources to back it up, people remember that scene outside the City Chambers in Manchester where the local authority leaders and Andy Burnham were standing on the front of the steps demanding additional resources from the government.”
He added: “When Glasgow and the surrounding areas were put under more stricter conditions than the rest of Scotland, where was Glasgow’s voice and where was Glasgow’s champion, demanding resources for the city of Glasgow? We have got to change that approach. Somehow this sucking up of local power, all to pursue national identity, has been unhelpful to local communities. We are finally going to break that and push power out of Holyrood and into the regions of Scotland, the cities of Scotland.”
Sarwar is also keen on introducing mayors to Scotland and a party source said Burnham could provide useful advice on this front.
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