Michael Marra, one of the contenders for the Scottish Labour leadership, has said the party must "rediscover our soul" and reconnect with the country. The North East MSP, the first to make the leadership ballot, is vying to replace Anas Sarwar, who stood down last month.
Leadership contest heats up
Marra faces competition from new MSP Joe Fagan, while Monica Lennon hopes to be on the ballot but is yet to win enough support. Nominations for the contest close on Monday.
Ahead of the deadline, Marra said: "Across the UK in May, we lost to political insurgents railing against a Labour leadership that had lost contact with the country."
Party's internal culture
He added: "But in Scotland we lost to a feckless, incompetent and corrupt SNP whose two-decade record has seen every Scottish institution weakened and the opportunities of our population recede."
Marra said Scottish Labour had let down communities that "desperately need to see change". He stressed: "We cannot spend the next five years doing more of what we did these last five, 10, 15 years, repeating the same mistakes, sniping and complaining."
Call for renewal
"We need to clean up our internal culture and move beyond articulating what we are against, and campaign on what we are for," he said. "It used to be that the public knew where Labour’s hearts were and we had to win the argument that they could trust our heads."
"A big part of our challenge is now the opposite. We can make the sums add up but we must rediscover our soul and reconnect with Scotland."
Marra said the party had to "unite", "renew", and "rediscover" its moral purpose. "I believe I am the leader to do that," he said.
The new leader will be announced on Saturday September 19.
