Monica Lennon has failed to get on the ballot papers for the Scottish Labour leadership, leaving a two-way battle between finance spokesman Michael Marra and recently-elected MSP Joe Fagan.
There was speculation at the weekend that Ms Lennon was struggling to meet the threshold ahead of the nomination contest closing at 10am today.
Prospective candidates needed to have won nominations from, among others, at least three Scottish Labour MPs and three party MSPs — a threshold Ms Lennon did not met. She was endorsed by Unison and Unite the Union, but did not secure the necessary parliamentary support.
She was defeated in the Holyrood election in both the Rutherglen constituency and on the list, and only returned to parliament by taking the list position vacated by Anas Sarwar, who quit to take a seat in the Lords and a post in Andy Burnham’s government.
It will now be a straight fight between Mr Marra and former councillor Mr Fagan, who has only been in the parliament since being elected in May.
Voting will open on Friday, 28 August and close at 5pm on Thursday, 17 September. The winner will be announced on Saturday, 19 September.
Commentators see little difference in tone and ambition between the two candidates. However, Mr Fagan who is backed by USDAW, the GMB, may shift the party further to the left.
After the nominations closed, he said: “I’m standing because Scottish Labour needs to be bold again and because working people need a party that is firmly on their side.
“As this contest moves into its next phase, I want to thank every member, trade unionist and affiliate who has backed our campaign and helped us make the case for change.
“This campaign is about more than understanding what went wrong. It is about what Labour does next. It is about respecting work, backing our communities and giving working people real power over the future, not asking them simply to live with decisions made elsewhere.
“I want to rebuild Scottish Labour as the party of the working people of Scotland, rooted in our communities, serious about using power to change lives and ambitious enough to make Scotland’s future belong to the people who work, care, build, teach and keep our country going.
“That is the argument I will keep making throughout this contest, and if you share that vision, I hope you’ll join my campaign to change our party.”
Mr Marra, who has support from, among others, the rail workers union Aslef, said yesterday: “It used to be that the public knew where Labour’s hearts were and we had to win the argument that they could trust our head.
“A big part of our challenge is now the opposite. We can make the sums add up but we must rediscover our soul and reconnect with Scotland.”
Today he added: “I’m humbled to be on the ballot and excited to set out my plans to unite and renew the Scottish Labour Party.
“Congratulations to Joe and I look forward to a good spirited and comradely contest.
“My commiserations to Monica who is one of the most formidable and effective campaigners the Labour movement has.
“The next leader of Scottish Labour has a huge task: to unite our party,rediscover our soul and reconnect with Scotland. I am the candidate who can do that.”
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