Will Scottish Labour's Michael Marra Make Waves? In Conversation with St Andrews Political Societies

Scottish Labour has elected their new leader, Michael Marra. No, Americans, this is not an out of the blue Andy Burnham replacement. He is to lead Labour in the Scottish Parliament — a political party that has lost the last five elections — where the Scottish National Party (SNP) reigns supreme. So was this missed BBC headline really all that important? I spoke to representatives from four St Andrews political societies: the St Andrews Conservative and Unionist Association (STAUCA), St Andrews Labour Society, Scottish Independence Society, and the Society of Socialists — for their reactions, and what bearing Marra really has on UK politics.

Predictably, Chair of St Andrews Labour, Jonah McConnell, a fourth-year Computer Science student knew about Marra's election before I contacted him. Even so, he wasn't notably more informed than the other students I spoke to. “In all honesty,” he admitted, “I only knew because there is a nomination process for the chairs of university Labour societies.” Representatives from Scottish Independence, the Society of Socialists, and STAUCA echoed this same vague awareness of the election, and a general lack of familiarity with Marra as an individual.

In the face of SNP dominance, and Scottish Labour's comparative irrelevance, is Marra's election a non-event? 

“The SNP have such a massive presence overall that it doesn't matter how dynamic [or] how new and shiny a politician is — they're all going to be overshadowed by the fact that the SNP and Greens have such overwhelming power to block any attempt at preserving the union,” said Monty Saunders, a second-year History student representing STAUCA. 

Acknowledging Labour's “serious problem” connecting with Scottish voters, fourth-year International Relations student Henry Phelan considers Marra's election symptomatic of changes in Westminster. “It does just seem like a symptom of Starmer getting replaced by Burnham,” Phelan said, adding, “Marra's echoing a lot of the same rhetoric Burnham uses about local governance over a more centralised government.” 

Phelan continued: “I honestly don't think it's significant. Just changing the person at the top won't have any substantial effect.”

The Burnham parallels don't stop there. Inspired by the new Prime Minister, Mara, during his victory speech in Edinburgh expressed his intent to reprioritise “people and policy,” building “movements and alliances” instead of reaching for the “political attack line” St Andrews students aren't so sure of Marra’s sincerity. “In my view, it's a bit of an empty slogan — no method will really work, no matter which way they go, left or right, because of the overwhelming presence the SNP has in the chamber,” said Saunders, adding, “Labour have shown time and time again that they'll say one thing and do another.”

Across the political spectrum, the Society of Socialists similarly framed Marra's election as a product of Labour hypocrisy. “Members have been reacting to this election from the perspective of criticising Anas Sarwar,” said an anonymous representative. Sarwar, Marra's predecessor, resigned as MSP and Scottish Labour leader in July, 2026 to become Minister of State for Trade under Andy Burnham — accepting a peerage in the process. “He'd previously said the House of Lords should be abolished, but has now accepted a peerage to become a minister in the British government. Again, that shows the Labour Party and its leaders acting hypocritically.”

McConnell, by contrast, expressed sympathy for Marra while acknowledging the strategic ambition behind his words. “He's clearly trying to appeal to a wide base, and it seems he's trying to move beyond constitutional questions — though obviously, they're still so important.” The challenges don't end there. “With SNP, Reform, and the recent Conservative win in Aberdeen South, it's a particularly difficult environment for him and Scottish Labour.” McConnell added, “I feel for him, but I am very optimistic about Labour’s future.”

Could Marra bring an era of unforeseen change through coalition-building? Saunders has doubts, but sees an opening on the unionist front. “There's a viable case for cooperation, but everyone has different goals and targets — it's very difficult to ask a left- and right-wing party to work together purely to bat out a nationalist group when everything else they want is so entirely different.” Still, he'd welcome fresh opposition leadership. “There hasn't been a strong Leader of the Opposition since Ruth Davidson led the Conservatives,” said Saunders. “If Michael Marra can stand up and hold the SNP to account, then he has my support in that regard.”

Phelan sees different, more altruistic prospects for partnership. “He's done work in the past with the SNP government on poverty and healthcare. That's promising.” He continued: “At heart, he probably has the same idea as everyone else in government — to make Scotland a better place.”

The Socialists have separate demands if Marra wants to court support further left. “He'd need to spearhead a change in foreign policy,” said the society representative. “Scotland can, to some extent, dictate what foreign policy it believes should be conducted. To garner more support from the left, the First Minister — which he isn't yet — would need to more firmly recognise the state of Palestine, and be more active in boycotting and divesting from Israel.” There are domestic hopes too: fighting off Reform and shoring up public services. “This country has serious issues with poverty, and the NHS is very underfunded,” said the representative.

Labour's failures in Holyrood have long revolved around the Scottish independence question — the party has historically opposed both independence and a second referendum. Marra's stance is more ambiguous. “He's said independence would be granted if that was the 'settled will' of the Scottish people,” Phelan said. “But unlike Northern Ireland, Scotland has no statutory trigger for a referendum, so it's unclear what that actually means in practice.”

Saunders views this nebulousness as a Conservative opening. “Labour has repeatedly shown they don't always care about preserving the union — various leaders have put other things above it. If you care about the union, the Conservative Party is the only true option.”

McConnell hopes independence questions can be set aside. “So much SNP support is focused on that debate, and I'm glad Marra reaffirmed self-determination,” he said, “but Scotland has a lot of other problems, and I'd love to see work on those instead.” Here, students across ideological lines converge — a rare point of agreement.

On the question of Michael Marra, perhaps the answer is to observe without expectation. Despite Scottish Labour's recent record of defeat, McConnell believes the party may still be one to watch: “Any change in the Labour Party in Scotland has to be noted with significance. The SNP have been in power a long time, but Labour has a strong tradition here — in Scotland's history, its industrial past,” he said.

McConnell added, “A lot of the Labour Party, even in Westminster, still feels Scotland as its heartland.”