James Kelly MSP

Elections can be exhausting.

After a busy few months on various campaign trails, I enjoyed being out in Rutherglen with Ged Killen MP vising local companies on Small Business Saturday.

We should all be doing our bit to back local shops and services, especially during the festive period.

Recently, in Rutherglen, Labour won the local council by-election, with Martin Lennon taking the seat made vacant by Ged Killen’s election to Westminster in June.

It was a great result for Martin, an articulate and compassionate young man who will do a great job standing up for his town.

We’ve had another election in the Labour party too, choosing our new Scottish Leader.

A process drawn out over a couple of months came to a close a fortnight ago and Richard Leonard won the position.

He has made his leadership clear: that it is time for real change. Scotland needs Labour in government, in Holyrood and Westminster.

Richard’s vision for Scotland is bold and I look forward to him developing our policy platform over the coming months.

People in Rutherglen, and across Scotland, want change.

This was clear to me during the general election earlier this year, when the then-SNP MP’s majority vanished and local people elected Labour’s Gerard Killen.

Up and down the country, support for the Nationalists plummeted and voters were once again looking to place their trust in Labour.

When we were out canvassing in the Rutherglen by-election, I was struck by the number of people who were pleased to hear from Labour and wanted to share their concerns with us.

By far the most pressing issues related to cuts to services we rely on the most: social care, clean streets, community facilities.

These are issues the SNP loved to blame on “Labour” and “Westminster”, when in reality Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon’s party were the ones slashing local authority funding while in government in Edinburgh.

Now reality has caught up with the Nationalists and people are seeing through the party of spin.

Politicians once entrusted with the concerns of voters have become discredited: Nicola Sturgeon now best known for a failed attempt at a second, divisive independence referendum, while Alex Salmond has tarnished his reputation by hosting a second-rate chat show on Russian state broadcaster RT.

It’s therefore little wonder that people are giving Labour a fresh look.

In Richard Leonard, we have an authentic leader who is determined to see social change for working people in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

And locally, people are fed up of the SNP and know Labour is the best voice to stand up for our area.