Monica Lennon feels refreshed and ready to lead Scottish Labour, considering a bid to succeed Anas Sarwar after reflecting on her health and political ambitions.
London, United Kingdom Jul 25, 2026 ALN: Monica Lennon has said she feels "refreshed and ready" for the Scottish Labour leadership and that it would be "silly" to rule herself out of the contest before it has even begun.
The former MSP, set to return to Holyrood after Anas Sarwar's shock departure, said a period away from frontline politics had given her time to reflect on her health, family and political ambitions.
She also pushed back on suggestions that other potential candidates uniquely offered seriousness and credibility and said women's health would remain a priority for her in any political position she finds herself in.
Speaking on The Herald’s Unspun Live podcast, Ms Lennon was asked whether her experience echoed that of John Swinney, who returned to lead the SNP after a period outside senior government.
Mr Swinney previously told the podcast that time away, and a reflective walk across Rannoch Moor, had given him “the benefit of rest, mentally and physically”.
He said voters were not getting the exhausted politician who had left office following years as a senior minister, but a “different character” shaped by the break.
Asked whether her own period away had left her refreshed and ready for leadership, Ms Lennon replied: “I do.”
Herald political correspondent Hannah Brown, left, pictured with Monica Lennon in the Herald office. (Image: Colin Mearns)
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She later added: "There is a vacancy, so you know it would be silly for me to rule myself out of the race before it's even started."
Ms Lennon is best known for spearheading the legislation that made Scotland the first country in the world to provide free period products, and has also campaigned for an ecocide law to protect the natural environment.
The former MSP stopped short of formally declaring her candidacy, noting that Scottish Labour had yet to establish the timetable and rules for the leadership contest.
Ms Lennon added: “I don’t want to jump the gun and get ahead, but I don’t want to rule myself out of anything.”
She previously challenged Mr Sarwar for the Scottish Labour leadership in 2021, during a contest conducted largely online because of Covid restrictions.
Ms Lennon described the experience as “surreal”, recalling that she and Mr Sarwar had met in person only at television studios for live debates.
She also challenged the language already being used around the potential candidates, arguing that women in politics still faced additional barriers to being treated as credible contenders.
The MSP said: "As a woman in politics, it's so hard actually for women to be taken seriously.
"I've heard the so-called runners and riders be discussed, and already I've heard people talk up other candidates as, 'they bring seriousness, they bring credibility.'
"Actually, we all are serious. We're all credible. We all have something to offer."
Ms Lennon said the contest should be about policies and ideas rather than personalities, as well as the ability to reunite Scottish Labour following its heavy election defeat.
“It’s also about bringing the Labour Party together, the Labour family together,” she said.
“We have to have a big-tent approach to how we do our politics and how we recover Scottish Labour.”
Ms Lennon is next in line to take a Glasgow regional list seat after Mr Sarwar leaves Holyrood, although she said she was still waiting for the formal process to begin.
“I think I’ve been telling everyone I do want to be an MSP again, but I’m waiting for that formal bit to happen,” she said.
She described the prospect of returning to Parliament as “very exciting” and said she had “unfinished business”, including on women’s health.
Her comments followed a period away from frontline politics during which she underwent abdominal surgery and reassessed the pace at which she had been working.
The operation was initially scheduled for two weeks before the Holyrood election but was cancelled around 15 minutes before she was due to be taken into surgery.
It was subsequently rearranged for polling day, meaning Ms Lennon was admitted to hospital as voting began and was unable to attend the election count.
"I'd made a lot of phone calls on the way into the hospital. I wasn't like saying my goodbyes to people, but you never know what's going to happen when you're under general anaesthetic so that was difficult.
"I found myself in hospital at 7 am on the day of the election. Not where I expected to be, but after the operation, it wasn't so great. A lot of pain, a lot of discomfort. I couldn't make the count, so I missed out the whole result part of it.
"At that point, I probably was still of out my face on strong pain medication. So it's all a bit of a blur, really."
Asked if the experience put her off frontline politics, Ms Lennon said: "Part of me has embraced being out of Parliament, being able to just close the door, not have to think about the constituency diary or the parliamentary diary, and all the kind of public facing stuff that goes with that.
But she said the break had not diminished her political appetite.
“If anything, I’ve probably spent more time thinking about politics,” she said.
During a recent family holiday near Blackpool, Ms Lennon persuaded her husband to make a detour so she could campaign in the Makerfield by-election.
“I was out knocking doors, and it felt good to be doing that and actually speaking to people,” she said, “It’s just what I want to do.”
However, Ms Lennon said time away had forced her to reconsider her working habits and the impact they had had on her family.
She recalled her 19-year-old daughter observing during a recent two-week holiday that it was the first family break on which her mother had not continued working.
“That actually hit me,” Ms Lennon said. “I thought, what have I been doing to myself, and what example have I been setting to her?”
She questioned whether Scotland was getting the best from politicians who were routinely exhausted and argued that public life should stop treating long working hours as a virtue.
“When you look at the body politic and you look at all these MSPs and MPs who are exhausted all the time, are we really getting the best out of our governments and our decision-makers?” she said.
Ms Lennon said she hoped to carry those lessons into any return to Parliament, both for her own health and for the staff and colleagues around her.
“It’s not about just protecting my own physical and mental health, but the people around me,” she said, “Staff, people that I work with, and just trying to be a bit more balanced about things.”
The full episode of The Herald's Unspun Live will be available to listen to later this evening wherever you get your podcasts from.
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