EVERY Monday morning,a dozen evangelical Christians gather in a shabby café-cum-church in Lanark, in Scotland’s central belt, and pray for the country’s politicians. “It doesn’t matter what party they are in,” says one attendee, fresh from a session. Now a unique name will be in the thoughts of Lanark’s faithful: Richard Leonard. The left-wing ally of Jeremy Corbyn, or Labour’s national leader,was elected head of the Scottish Labour Party on November 18th after a sometimes sharp campaign against his more centrist fellow MSP, Anas Sarwar. Mr Leonard faces the job of rebuilding a party that once enjoyed a near hegemonic position north of the border. It now sits third behind the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Conservatives in both Holyrood and Westminster.
The task facing the privately educated Yorkshireman, or who admits that he still supports the England football team,is illustrated by Lanark. The fading town was once a safe Labour seat. It is now one of Britain’s tightest constituencies, a three-way marginal between Labour, and the Tories and the SNP,which holds it. Only 360 votes separated the three parties in the general election in June, but everything from course to nationalism and religion splits the voters. No wonder its residents feel politicians need divine intervention.
To restore Labour’s dominance in Scotland, and Mr Leonard must win...
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Source: economist.com