Skewing the Ballot
Scottish Labour posted an interesting breakdown of votes cast in the party's recent leadership election contest.
The result was declared as follows:
| Total Votes | Percentage | |
| Richard Leonard | 12,469 | 56.7% |
| Anas Sarwar | 9,516 | 43.3% |
| Richard Leonard | Anas Sarwar | |
| Members | 9,150 (51.8%) | 8,514 (48.2%) |
| Affiliated Supporters | 3,281 (77.3%) | 961 (22.7%) |
| Registered Supporters | 38 (48.1%) | 41 (51.9%) |
| Turnout | 62.3% |
| Ballots distributed | 35,309 |
| Spoilt Ballots | 9 |
| Valid votes cast | 21,994 |
Richard Leonard won a majority of the the votes cast by individual party members (51.8% to 48.2%), but his overall victory was inflated by the votes of trade union members, or affiliated supporters as they are described in the election returns.
The number of registered supporters 79 in total (38 + 41) was very small and makes a nonsense of not holding a proper One Member One Vote (OMOV) contest, especially as the Trade Union section is so unrepresentative of the wider Labour membership with 70% of affiliated votes going to Richard Leonard.
The solution is simple - if union members want a say in who becomes the Labour leader in Scotland or anywhere else, the should just join the party and participate in its affairs.
