Labour leader contenders are set for fight to win back voters
Dugdale, Macintosh declare bids to succeed Murphy
SCOTTISH Labour is set for a leadership contest this summer after Kezia Dugdale and Ken Macintosh confirmed they will stand to succeed Jim Murphy.
Ms Dugdale, the current deputy leader, who only entered Holyrood in 2011, said it was time for a “new generation” to lead the party.
Mr Macintosh, the MSP for Eastwood, vowed to “rebuild trust and confidence” in Scottish Labour after its shattering General Election defeat at the hands of the SNP.
Both candidates are considered to occupy the centre ground in Labour politics.
Scottish Labour is looking for its sixth leader in eight years after Mr Murphy announced he was stepping down in the wake of the drubbing.
The party lost all but one of the 41 seats it took in the 2010 election.
Ms Dugdale, who starts the race as the clear favourite, will launch her campaign next month when Mr Murphy formally steps down.
Her decision means the party will also be seeking a new deputy leader.
Announcing the move, the Lothian MSP said improving Scotland’s education would be her top priority.
She said in a statement, said: “I am standing to be
Scottish Labour Leader and I intend to transform my party for the good of my country.
“I will formally launch my campaign nex t month when the Scottish Executive Committee sets out the rules and timetable for the leadersh ip contest.
“At that point there will be much more to say on how we must meet the challenge ahead.”
Promising a fresh approach after Labour’s widelycriticised election cam paign, she added: “This is a moment when Scottish Labour must and will change.
“It’s time for a new generation with a vision for the future of Scotland.
“Labour lost badly in the General Election. Nothing we can say or do will disguise that fact.
“The job of our next leader isn’t to explain away that loss or find excuses – it’s to understand why people were so reluctant to vote for us and find a way of regaining the trust of the people of Scotland.
“I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge Scottish Labour faces.
“But we’ve been the insurgent force before, pushing back against the political establishment and winning great victories and profound social change.
“We will be that force again. Our values are what we will carry forward with us – all the rest is baggage.
“We have a mountain to climb, but I believe I offer a fresh start for Scottish Labour.”
She said her background as the daughter of teachers had impressed on her the importance of education to change lives.
“The only way we can secure a fairer, brighter tomorrow for Scotland is by giving our young people a better start in life today.
“As Scottish Labour leader that’s what I would work for every single day,” she said.
Mr Macintosh ended speculation about his plans within minutes of Ms Dugdale confirming her candidacy.
He said: “I am pleased to hear that Kezia has thrown her hat in the ring and that she agrees we have to have a contest.
“I am standing because I want to rebuild the trust and confidence in the Labour Party that seems to have drained away in recent years, but that I have never lost.
“I believe we need to show by our very example that we care more about the people we represent than about politics or position.”
Mr Macintosh, a former BBC producer and MSP since 1999, stood unsuccessfully for the leadership in 2011.
He won the biggest share of support from grassroots party members, but lost out to Johann Lamont after she polled more strongly with parliamentarians and members of affiliated trade unions, under the party’s threeway electoral college system.
He is hoping the party moves to a onememberonevote system, which Mr Murphy aims to deliver as one of his final acts before bowing out. Mr Murphy survived a vote of no confidence within Scottish Labour’s ruling executive committee last weekend.
But he chose to quit, blaming attacks by Len McCluskey, the leader of the Unite union, for fat ally undermining his leadership.