Sarwar’s intervention comes as the Mandelson affair fuels rising cynicism, especially among younger voters, says Marie Macklin

Anas Sarwar’s call for Keir Starmer’s resignation was nothing if not bold. Politics can sometimes mean rolling the dice in high-stakes gambits filled with personal jeopardy, and that is what the Scottish Labour leader has done. Sarwar’s intentions are sound and his justification clear, in the midst of the scandal engulfing the prime minister and distracting attention from the pressing issues facing the country. The fact that, so far at least, fellow big hitters in the form of UK cabinet ministers have failed to match his courage does not mean that Starmer will escape the ongoing impact of the Mandelson affair.

The cast list in the fiasco which has washed over Number 10 in recent weeks is a colourful one. From Labour’s own so-called Prince of Darkness to an actual former Prince of the realm all the way through to Jeffrey Epstein himself, the enigmatic dark heart at the centre of it all.  

In some ways it feels almost reminiscent of political scandals of a bygone age, like the Profumo affair which fatally damaged the Macmillan government in the 1960s. Then, as now, powerful men abused their positions in behaviour which risked or actually exposed state secrets, and then as now young women were the pawns and victims.  

Easdale brothers back Anas Sarwar after Starmer resign call

Scottish Labour MPs back Keir Starmer in Anas Sarwar row

Sarwar’s revolt leaves Starmer reeling and Labour in freefall

Starmer is finished but when does Scottish Labour need him gone?

And while Starmer, whose dire poll ratings make him the most unpopular occupant of Number 10 in modern times, may stagger on for a while, the anticipated drubbing in May’s elections, here in Scotland and around the UK, may prove to be the final straw.

However, amid the briefing, plotting and intrigue around how and when he might be ousted and who comes next, there are much more serious and deeper questions raised by the Mandelson affair than the future of this Labour government.

At a time when public confidence in politicians and the political process is already fragile, the shocking revelations around the extent to which Mandelson betrayed the national interest in the wake of the 2008 crash, through his associations with the so-called Wolves of Wall Street, are a new low. His actions – which undoubtedly impacted the markets, resulting in businesses going to the wall, jobs lost and lives ruined - merely confirm the very worst assumptions which a huge swathe of the UK populace hold about the political class.

Those of us who have observed politics up close know that that picture is often an unfair one. As a leading member of Scotland’s business community, I have had close dealings with politicians from across the spectrum over many years and can attest that the vast majority are in it for the right reasons. But try telling that to the public today and see how far you get.

While it may be too late to change the minds of many older voters, persuading younger people that the political system isn’t fundamentally corrupt and stacked against them is surely one of the most important tasks for the future of our democracy.

However, one window onto how those younger voters are feeling offers scant hope that they can be persuaded that our political class can be trusted. The University of Glasgow’s John Smith Centre ran a focus group of younger people in the immediate aftermath of the full details of Mandelson’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein being exposed. 

The verdicts were almost universally scathing and show that with each drip of this and other scandals, the ratcheting up of cynicism, disillusionment and outright despair about the behaviour of those who govern us is plumbing new depths.

A selection of the views of just some of those 16 to 29-year-olds who responded to the focus group is instructive. One female student said: “It kind of makes you think: if he’s doing it and he’s in the House of Lords, what are the rest of them like? Obviously, there are always going to be some rotten apples but can you trust them?”

Others, though, were much less inclined to go with the bad apple explanation.

“I wasn’t surprised that something like that would come up because there’s always so much corruption in some form or another,” said another female student.  “I’m just like – ‘how are we allowing these people to run our country?’ Their morals are just not there.”

Another young female student concluded: “It reminded me of the whole scandal of the Tory party in Covid and Rayner and her house. What is going on? How are they allowed to get away with it? It’s not fair.”

The focus group conclusions come after the John Smith Centre last year conducted a poll of younger voters which showed that 63 per cent of the 16 to 29 year-olds asked said they agreed that democracy was in trouble.

It is that depth of disillusionment that has led me, in partnership with the John Smith Centre to co-found a new initiative aimed at pushing back at the avalanche of cynicism.

Political Conversations was launched in Ayrshire last summer, at Kilmarnock Academy, my own former secondary school, and brought those with frontline political experience to debate, share thoughts and answer questions from an audience of senior pupils.

It was a huge success, showing that politicians from different tribes can rise above the toxicity and polarisation which has come to define our times, so much so that a follow-up event at the school was soon scheduled.

Since then, the project has expanded to visit a number of other high schools, predominantly in traditional working-class areas, as well as a visit to Holyrood to see the political process up close.

I am proud to be Co-founder of the initiative, and would urge other business leaders to pledge their support too. Because, whether you subscribe to the theory that Mandelson was just one of a very few bad apples, or that the whole system is fundamentally broken, surely we can al agree that giving inspiration and above all hope to the younger generation about the future of politics is something well worth the time and effort. 

Dr Marie Macklin CBE is a leading Scottish businesswoman and investor

© Herald Scotland