Kezia Dugdale has said that Scottish Labour made a serious error in not focussing on the role Scottish Parliament – Holyrood – plays in people’s everyday life.
Dudgale, who is one of two people to announce they’re standing to be Scottish Labour leader, argued that her party failed to focus “front and centre on the role of Scottish parliament.”
She also said that she agreed with “much if not all” of former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont’s recent comments. Earlier in the week she said the party need a leader for the long haul and that it seemed the SNP “got everything right”. On Lamont, Dugdale said “I know that she’s got a lot more to say in the weeks and months ahead.”
Talking to BBC radio, Dugdale said:
“I was 15 years old when Tony Blair became prime minister and I was too young to vote in the first Scottish parliament elections back in 1999, so for the whole of my adult life the Scottish parliament has been at the centre of Scottish politics,”
“But that’s not necessarily been how the Scottish Labour party has viewed it. Time and time and time again we’ve made that mistake of not focusing front and centre on the role of the Scottish parliament. And the more powers that we bring to Holyrood and the more that the Scottish parliament plays a role in people’s everyday lives, the more primacy we have to give it.”
Joining Dugdale in the leadership race this morning is MSP Ken Macintosh. This is following Jim Murphy’s resignation last month. He will stand down as leader on the 13th June.
UPDATE: Following Dugdale’s comments earlier today, Johann Lamont has announced that she’s supporting Dugdale to be leader. Lamont has said:
“We would wish we were not here.
Scottish Labour is still in shock and we have many questions to ask of ourselves, arguments to reflect on and changes to make. That will not be done quickly and cannot be for elected politicians alone.
If Labour’s commitment to the values of justice and equality are to heard again, the process of recovery must be shaped by those who have stopped listening to us.
Electing a new leader will not be enough but the right leader, supported and encouraged, can guide and drive that change. This job cannot be a zero hours contract but a long term, long haul appointment.
She is bright, talented, compassionate. She is brave. She is wise enough to have taken time to decide whether she wants the job. As our education spokesperson she revealed a creativity, harnessed to a focus on what worked, not just what sounded good. She is a campaigner, recognising the abilities of those who understand the problems facing too many in our communities and have already developed answers. Her campaign on taking on the scandal of pay day loan companies has, even in opposition, offered protection to those in debt.
She is all of these things but critically she is part of the post referendum generation, shaped by that debate but not scarred by the arguments of the pre Scottish Parliament generation – hers is the generation charged with healing divisions and responding to a changed Scotland.
Her instinct is to co-operate and that is good. Her politics are grounded in making a difference and tackling inequality and that means she can be a powerful voice for action over rhetoric.
She can give Labour a strong voice, a modern voice in our new Scotland. And if she wins, it will not be for us to fold our arms and watch; it will be for all of us to roll our sleeves up and together take responsibility for past failings and for the challenge the future so clearly presents. And in my view Kez is the woman to lead that change.”
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