Sarwar Quits as Scottish Labour Leader to Join Burnham Government — Via a Peerage He Once Vowed to Abolish

Anas Sarwar resigned as Scottish Labour leader in July 2026 to join Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Burnham plans to make him a peer — despite Sarwar calling the House of Lords "unacceptable" in 2022. The SNP accused him of lying; the Scottish Greens called him a "chancer." Sarwar was the first senior Labour figure to urge Starmer's resignation.