New Scottish Labour leader admits he sides with England sports teams

The new leader of Scottish Labour has admitted he supports England over Scotland when the two nations go head-to-head in rugby and football.

The Yorkshire-born trade unionist Richard Leonard was elected leader on Saturday and, despite spending the majority of his adult life in Scotland, the MSP for Central Scotland admitted his sporting heart remained with England.

“If it’s England vs Scotland, I do support England. Every other game I’ll support either Scotland or England,” Leonard told Radio Five Live.

“I’m not going to try and make up something, that’s the honest truth, and my wife, who is Scottish, she would bear that out. We watch football together,” he told presenter Adrian Chiles.

In recent years, Scottish politicians have struck a diplomatic tone when answering questions on the sporting rivalry. Before the 2006 World Cup, Alex Salmond said he would not actively root against England. Salmond criticised the former prime minister Gordon Brown for appearing to favour England over Scotland when launching the English 2018 World Cup bid.

On Saturday, Leonard, an ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, won a decisive victory over his rival Anas Sarwar in the the Scottish Labour leadership election.

During the campaign, the Yorkshireman defended his private school upbringing and English heritage, asserting nobody should be judged for where they were born or went to school.

Corbyn did not side with either candidate in the leadership vote despite open support for Leonard from his allies, but he said on Saturday that Leonard’s victory was a turning point in Scottish politics and would transform the party’s fortunes.

Labour’s popular support in Scotland has nearly doubled this year, from 13% last winter to 27% in June’s general election where it gained six Westminster seats.