Highlands Labour Holyrood candidate John Erskine welcomes Anas Sarwar as new Scottish party leader hailing 'transformational moment'

Scottish Labour candidate for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and regional candidate for the Highlands and Islands at May's Holyrood elections has welcomed the election of Anas Sarwar as the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party.

Anas Sarwar polled 57.6 per cent of the vote to give him a comfortable victory over Monica Lennon.

John Erskine said: "I'm delighted that Anas Sarwar has won the Scottish Labour leadership contest.

"His election is a transformational moment for the Scottish Labour Party and under his leadership Scottish Labour can once again become a strong and credible opposition with realistic, constructive ideas for the future.

"This next Holyrood elections will be make-or-break for Scottish Labour, particularly here in the Highlands and Islands and I'm confident that Anas is the leader we need to keep Labour relevant and to turn our fortunes around and get us winning again here and in every part of Scotland.

"Anas knows our communities across the Highlands and Islands well.

"I've campaigned alongside him in Inverness, Dingwall and Easter Ross many times, and I look forward to the Holyrood campaign where he will set out his ambition to create the Scotland we should all aspire to: where no child grows up in poverty; where we lead the world in ending climate breakdown; and we restore our NHS so we never again have to choose between treating a virus or treating cancer."

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