Monica Lennon failed to secure enough nominations to enter the Scottish Labour leadership contest. She then said the party had become "quite nasty" and accused it of having "a problem when it comes to trans people".
That leaves Michael Marra and Joe Fagan on the ballot to replace Anas Sarwar. Party members and affiliated supporters will vote for his successor between 28 August and 17 September.
Monica Lennon and Scottish Labour
Lennon, a Scottish Labour MSP, said the party should be showing compassion and respect to trans people. She added: "I don't know if we have any transgender members left in Scottish Labour. They're certainly not voting for us."
She also said: "punching down on trans people and other minorities is not acceptable" and warned, "I won't be silenced. I'm not going anywhere. Frankly too many people have been pushed out of the Labour Party already in Scotland. That's why we only have 11,000 members."
Michael Marra and Joe Fagan
Both Marra and Fagan have expressed scepticism about recent attempts by the Scottish Parliament to make it easier for an individual to change their legally recognised sex. Lennon, who supported trans rights, said she wished both candidates well and wanted "a battle of ideas".
Fagan said the campaign was about "more than understanding what went wrong" and said, "It is about what Labour does next," as the contest moved on without Lennon. Sarwar triggered the race last month after announcing that he intended to stand down as both Scottish leader and MSP to join Andy Burnham's government.
July and 28 August
Sarwar stood down in July after leading Scottish Labour since 2021. The contest that followed narrowed this week to two names, leaving party members and affiliated supporters to choose between Marra and Fagan for the leadership role.
For Lennon, the immediate result is simple: she is out of the race, and the remaining candidates now carry the leadership contest into the vote window from 28 August to 17 September.
