First Labour leader to call for Starmer to quit offered government role
Sarwar's appointment to the Lords comes five months after he called for Sir Keir Starmer to quit as Labour leader.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is to quit and stand down from Holyrood, taking up a seat in the House of Lords to become a minister in Andy Burnham's government.
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He will be elevated to the upper chamber in order to take up a post at the revamped Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, headed by Jonathan Reynolds.
The Scottish Labour leader called for Sir Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister in February in a bid to save his campaign to become First Minister in the May Holyrood election.
But despite the gambit, Sarwar led his party to their worst defeat since devolution - returning just 17 MSPs.
New Prime Minister, Mr Burnham, appointed his Cabinet on Monday after taking office, with further junior ministerial appointments still to come.
Mr Sarwar is understood to be among the next tranche of job announcements - having attended Mr Burnham’s first speech as Labour leader on Friday.
He also said on Monday that he believed the new Prime Minister would “make our politics better”.
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There had been speculation at the time that Andy Burnham, then mayor of Greater Manchester, would back him in that call. Instead, he came out in support of the then-Prime Minister.
During the Holyrood campaign, Mr Sarwar, who has led the party for five years, rejected any suggestion that if he failed to become First Minister he would accept a seat in the Lords.
However, since the defeat there had been an expectation Mr Sarwar would stand down as Scottish Labour leader ahead of next year's council elections - but his elevation to the Lords at this point has taken many in the party by surprise.
Mr Sarwar had been Scottish Labour leader since 2021.
One party source told LBC: "This is falling upwards as an extreme sport. We've had Douglas Alexander kept on as Scottish Secretary, now Anas rewarded for failing. It is not a good look."
Mr Sarwar attended Andy Burnham's election announcement as Labour leader in London on Friday, and was understood to still be in London, though was not in the Downing Street crowd on Monday, though he hailed Mr Burnham for his “bold Labour vision” as he entered No 10.
The SNP said it would be a “terrible look” to appoint Mr Sarwar to the Lords.
The party’s deputy leader Keith Brown MSP said: “This is a terrible look for Andy Burnham who waxed lyrical about a new politics and devolving power – he’s just pulled the most undemocratic trick in the Westminster book.
“Anas Sarwar led Scottish Labour to their worst ever election defeat, but as is always the case with the Labour Party, there’s always a cushty number in the House of Lords.”
Mr Sarwar's place as a Glasgow list MSP will potentially be taken by Monica Lennon, who wasn't returned to Holyrood in May.
Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, will be interim leader until the party's Scottish Executive Council draws up a leadership timetable.