Kezia Dugdale promises a “fresh start” for Scottish Labour

Kezia Dugdale said today marked a “fresh start” for Scottish Labour ahead of new MSPs arriving at Holyrood, saying the party will continue to take on the Nationalists despite not being the official opposition.

The Scottish Labour leader claimed the party will put forward “progressive proposals” from the opposition benches, but the SNP must be “bold and radical” in order to win Labour support in Parliamentary votes.

“Today marks a fresh start for the Labour Party at Holyrood. Labour will lead progressive opposition to the SNP and our new MSPs – who come with experience from outside politics – will be critical to that success.

“We need all their talents to rebuild for the long term. Over the next five years the Scottish Parliament will take responsibility for a whole host of new powers, including over tax and welfare.

“With a minority SNP government, we will put forward progressive proposals for how the new Parliament should use those powers in the best interests of the people of Scotland. If the SNP are looking for our support they will need to be bold and radical in how they use the new powers of the Parliament.”

Scottish Labour won 24 seats on Thursday’s elections, a drop of 13. They have dropped to being the third party in Scotland, behind the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives. The Nationalists won 63 of the 129 seats – two short of a majority – and will form a minority Government.

Prior to the election, Dugdale adopted an anti-austerity platform, pledging to use the new powers of Scottish Parliament to increase the rate of income tax by 1p to counteract Conservative austerity.