Scottish Labour leader to resign next month despite surviving no confidence vote
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has said he will put his resignation to the party next month despite surviving a no confidence vote during a meeting of the party's executive.
It follows his party's widespread defeat at the general election when they lost 40 seats to its rival the Scottish National Party (SNP), leaving them with just one MP in Westminster.
Murphy also lost his seat in East Renfrewshire, which he had previously held for nearly 20 years, to the SNP's Kirsten Oswald.
While some colleagues had subsequently defended Murphy, he had faced calls to resign from other members, as well as unions.
Senior Labour member of the Scottish Parliament Alex Rowley had urged Mr Murphy to stand down, after quitting his own role as Labour's local government spokesman at Holyrood.
And this was echoed by another Labour member of the Scottish Parliament Elaine Smith who said the party needed a new direction.
The Unite union and the train drivers' union, Aslef had also called for Murphy to resign.