Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar set to become a minister in Burnham's government

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is set to stand down to become a minister in Andy Burnham's government.

It would mean Sarwar leaving the Scottish Parliament and his leader role, then taking up a seat in the House of Lords.

Sarwar publicly called for Sir Keir Starmer to resign in February, provoking a political near-death experience for the then prime minister.

It is thought Sarwar, who has led the Scottish Labour Party since 2021, will become a business minister.

• Sarwar ministerial role sees promotion of another Starmer critic

He was at the event in London last Friday when Burnham became the new Labour Party leader.

Scottish Labour won just 17 seats out of 129 in the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

Following the Holyrood election defeat Sarwar promised to stay on as leader in Scotland but his appointment as a minister at Westminster is expected to create a leadership vacancy.

Deputy leader of Scottish Labour and MSP Jackie Baillie is expected to step up to cover Sarwar's role ahead of a contest.

There will not however be a by-election for Sarwar's Holyrood seat as he was elected via the regional list.

Monica Lennon, who had been in the Scottish Parliament for a decade but was not re-elected in May, is the next name on the Glasgow list.

As of last year, new rules prevent politicians from sitting at both Westminster and Holyrood at the same time.

In May, as reported by The Herald, when asked if he would ever take up a seat in the House of Lords, Sarwar said: "No. I'm focused on being first minister of this great country."

He added: "My only commitment, my only focus, is serving my constituents in Glasgow and serving the great people of this country, if I get the honour of being first minister."

After Sir Keir's resignation in June, when asked if he planned to serve as party leader for the full five-year Holyrood term he said: "That is my intention.

"I'm hungry for the fight ahead and I want to play my full part in making sure this country never ends up in the hands of Nigel Farage and Reform."

When Burnham became prime minister on Monday, Sarwar hailed him for his "bold Labour vision".

Former Greater Manchester mayor Burnham appointed his cabinet on Monday night, but a raft of ministerial appointments are still to come.

BBC Scotland Westminster correspondent Paris Gourtsoyannis said Scottish Labour parliamentarians appeared to have been blindsided by the news.

An MSP called Sarwar's decision "bizarre", while a senior Scottish Labour MP said it was "absolutely mad. I cannot begin to fathom the logic of it."

As a Scottish Labour peer, Sarwar would be entitled to attend meetings of the Scottish PLP at Westminster - a group which earlier this year collectively refused to back their leader's call for Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister.

Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney wished Sarwar well in his "exciting new job" however he was critical of Burnham.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Breakfast programme, Swinney said: "It is a terrible look for Andy Burnham because the new PM has made a great play of essentially improving people's perceptions of politics and politicians.

"And to make one of his first decisions a decision to take the Labour leader in Scotland, who has just led the Labour Party to their worst result in the Scottish Parliament elections in the history of the Scottish parliament elections, and give him a job for life in the House of Lords and a job in the UK government is in my view a very, very strange way of trying to rebuild the confidence of the public in politics."

Reform UK's Scotland deputy leader Thomas Kerr said: "Only weeks ago, Anas Sarwar stood before the people of Glasgow asking for their trust and insisting that his future was here in Scotland. Today, those same voters will rightly feel betrayed.

"Throughout the election campaign, he dismissed suggestions that he had ambitions elsewhere and claimed his focus was on serving Scotland.

"Now, at the first opportunity, he has walked away from the very people who placed their faith in him."

And Scottish Green Party co-leader Gillian Mackay accused Sarwar of being a "chancer" who had "gone from promising to scrap the House of Lords to taking a seat in it".

She added: "By grabbing a place on the unelected red benches, he's ensured that he gets all of the power and privilege without having to worry about what voters might think.

"It is clearly not right or fair for politicians who have been rejected by the country to end up as law makers for the rest of their lives safe in the knowledge that there is nothing anyone can do to stop them."

Jim Murphy, who was Scottish Labour leader from 2014 to 2015, told BBC News: "If it's confirmed I think it's good news for him [Sarwar] personally but it probably, on balance, strengthens the government.

"It will open up a vacancy, of course, for leader of the Scottish Labour Party."

He said Andy Burnham had a maximum three years until the next election and had appointed people he felt could deliver quickly.

Murphy added: "He's come to a judgment that Anas, as part of a wider team, can do that.

"That will be difficult for him [Sarwar]. He will have to get up to speed very quickly but congratulations to him."