Johann Lamont
Johann MacDougall Lamont (/ˈdʒoʊæn læmʌnt/; born 11 July 1957) is a Scottish politician, who was leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She served as a junior minister in the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition Scottish Executive from 2004 until the coalition's defeat by the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2007. She was subsequently elected deputy leader of the opposition Labour group of MSPs in 2008, and was elected to lead the Labour Party in December 2011. She announced her resignation in October 2014, and following a leadership election to replace her, was succeeded by Jim Murphy in December. Born in Glasgow, Lamont attended the city's Woodside Secondary School and obtained a degree from the University of Glasgow. After studying for teaching qualifications at Jordanhill College, she became a schoolteacher. Active in the Labour Party since her university days, Lamont served on its Scottish Executive Committee, and chaired it in 1993. With the establishment of a devolved legislature in Scotland, she was elected as the Labour Co-operative Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Pollok in 1999. Having been appointed convener of the Scottish Parliament's Social Justice Committee in 2001, she obtained her first ministerial role in October 2004. Her decision to stand for the Labour Party leadership followed the resignation of Iain Gray as leader in the wake of the party's defeat at the 2011 Scottish general election—its second consecutive defeat. Following a review of how the Labour Party in Scotland is structured, she became its first overall leader. Lamont has been a campaigner on equality issues and violence against women throughout her political career. Following the SNP Government's announcement of a referendum on Scottish independence she was a key figure in Better Together, the cross-party movement that sought to keep Scotland in the United Kingdom. Lamont believes that Labour lost the 2011 election because it had lost its direction, and initiated a review of Scottish Labour policy on issues like devolution and the party's commitment to free universal public services. Her work won her accolades at the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards, for Political Impact of the Year in 2012 and Debater of the Year in 2013. In Parliamentary debates she was perceived by commentators such as The Scotsman ' s Andrew Whitaker as being an effective opponent to First Minister Alex Salmond, but others, including Richard Seymour of The Guardian, criticised her for clumsiness during television interviews. Lamont resigned as Labour leader in October 2014, making the announcement in a Daily Record interview in which she claimed that senior figures within the UK Labour Party had undermined her attempts to reform the Scottish party, and treated it "like a branch office of London".