in the election, but instead chose to back his rivals. Miliband paid tribute to Lamont shortly after she announced that she intended to relinquish the leadership role, saying she had "led the Scottish Labour Party with determination". McLeish and McConnell both indicated that Lamont's sudden departure following weeks of speculation could have implications for Miliband's leadership. McLeish said that Miliband's chance of becoming Prime Minister could be affected if Labour returned fewer Scottish MPs in 2015, something he called a problem of "historic, epic proportions", while McConnell said that he was "very, very angry" and suggested Miliband had questions to answer about the circumstances surrounding the resignation. Salmond echoed the views of his predecessor, arguing that Miliband "should be answering questions about why Labour in Scotland is run as an extension of his Westminster office, and why he has effectively forced the resignation of a Labour leader in Scotland." Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, rejected Lamont's claims about UK Labour's treatment of its Scottish counterpart. Ian Davidson claimed that supporters of Murphy, who subsequently announced his intention to stand in the leadership contest to succeed Lamont, had conducted a whispering campaign against her. He further suggested that those on the right of the party had resented her election as leader and ignored her, treating her as a "wee lassie". Post leadership Labour went on to suffer significant losses, both in the 2015 UK general election, and the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. In Glasgow, where the party had traditionally enjoyed strong support, both elections produced a result in which every Labour held constituency was lost to the SNP, while in 2016 the Conservatives overtook Labour as the second largest party at Holyrood. Lamont lost her Glasgow Pollok seat to the SNP's Humza Yousaf, who secured it with a majority of 6,484, but she was one of four Labour candidates elected to the Glasgow regional list, where she was joined by Sarwar, James Kelly and Pauline McNeill. In response to the results, Lamont suggested Labour needed to understand the reasons behind it, and suggested that the 2014 referendum could be partially responsible. "A bit of it, I think, is still the referendum, the Yes/No is the divide in people’s minds rather than the politics of taxation, investing in public services against a low tax economy and so on." In November 2016, Lamont was announced as a member of the Commission on Parliamentary