Anas Sarwar joins House of Lords and appointed as business minister - after calling for upper chamber to be axed
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been made a peer and has been appointed as a business minister, after previously calling for the abolition of the House of Lords.
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The senior figure has joined the upper chamber and the newly-created Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
He had previously called for the House of Lords to be axed and for a “senate of the nations and regions” to take its place.
Jackie Baillie, Sarwar's former deputy and new interim, told LBC exclusively that still believes that her former boss thinks the Lords should be abolished.
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Interviewed by LBC's Scottish Political Editor, Ms Baillie said: "It's fantastic to be offered a job in a Labour government, but Anas has contributed his entire life to public service.
"To be called on to be part of a UK Labour government, but specifically in the portfolio of trade and investment, is fantastic, and what an opportunity for Scotland and the UK, because we will have one of our own talking about Scotland, selling Scotland, and indeed the UK to the rest of the world.
"And I look forward to working with Scottish businesses to do exactly that."
She added: "Of course he still believes that the House of Lords should be abolished, as do I. You know, it is much more important that we have a democratic institution as a second chamber. That hasn't changed.
"But in the run-up to the election, we were wanting to win the election. He was wanting to be the First Minister. The last thing on his mind was a seat in the House of Lords. You know, that wasn't his priority. And so he answered very honestly when people asked that question.
"But of course, the circumstances have changed when we lost the election. If you get the chance to be serving in a UK Labour government, you would snatch at that opportunity."
Giving a speech in Westminster, in which he also ruled out any pact or coalition with Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National party (SNP), Anas Sarwar said: “A central part of the mission of the Labour party must be to renew democracy.
“The House of Lords, in its current form, as an institution has no place in 21st-century politics. It is unacceptable, and has been for far too long, to have unelected representatives wielding such power.
“The House of Lords must be abolished and replaced with an institution which better reflects the makeup and the identity of the United Kingdom.”
Ms Baillie also confirmed that Monica Lennon is set to take Sarwar's MSP seat - having lost her own seat in May's elections after standing on the party list.