Labour Party looks for way to win back hearts and minds in Scotland

The Scottish Labour Party is not just searching for a new leader, but also for a new sense of direction. Everybody knows that the aim is to beat the SNP in the 2011 elections and regain power. But how is that going to be done? The Scotsman asked 20 influential figures, inside and outside the Scottish Labour Party, for their ideas on what the party needs to do before that can be achieved.

JOHN PARK

Labour MSP

''The main thing we have to do is highlight the gaps in policy that are undoubtedly there in the SNP. The Nationalists are not delivering for the whole of Scotland, particularly on skills and apprenticeships; they are not investing in Scotland's future – there are massive gaps there that have been glossed over.

"There is also no doubt that, as a party, we need to improve our organisational structure. We have been in the position before where we had a well-oiled machine that could win elections and by-elections, and we need to get that back. We have lost a lot of activists – we need to get more members."

CATHY JAMIESON

Labour MSP and leadership candidate

"I believe that the Scottish Labour Party does need a change of direction.

"We don't just need to listen to people but we need to adopt progressive and practical policies that make sense to them as well.

"People are saying to me that they want to see priorities made of good quality education and healthcare.

"I think we need to have more affordable childcare linked to more flexibility in the benefits system and I want to look at the not-for-profit model in public transport, particularly in the ScotRail franchise."

HUGH HENRY

Labour MSP

"We have to set out what we can deliver for ordinary Scots, and we have to set out what it is that can make a difference to their lives.

"I also think politicians need to be more accountable to people. Generally, politics has become far too detached from ordinary people. I think that is probably true of most politicians.

"The Labour Party has to come from the community upwards. This is about re-establishing that link and deciding what will make the most difference to the quality of life of Scots."

ANDY WILLOX

Federation of Small Businesses Scotland

"Whoever is elected leader of the Scottish Labour Party needs to recognise the important role of small businesses in safeguarding and regenerating our communities.

"Small businesses provide the services, jobs, revenue and focal points which keep many of our communities – urban and rural – viable.

"But the practical effects of doubtless well-intentioned legislation, delays in the planning system and more are making it more and more difficult for us to continue doing so."

MICHAEL McMAHON

Labour MSP

"We need to stay strong and true to our beliefs and values and not to try to copy the SNP in their populist and ultimately disastrous policies.

"The SNP can keep on doing what they are doing, which is making all the easy choices, short-term easy hits, which, in the long term, will have an adverse impact on the people of Scotland. What we should not do is follow them down that road. We have to stick to what we genuinely believe. That means long-term investment in the health service, in the things that are going to make a difference."

BILL BUTLER

Labour MSP and deputy leadership candidate

"I think what we need to do is have a change, both in policy direction and in the organisational structure within the Scottish Labour Party.

"I believe we must present to the people mainstream traditional policies which seek to eradicate poverty and promote social and economic justice.

"I think we need a revamped policy forum process which is as inclusive as possible of all sections of the Labour Party and the Labour movement."

PETER LYNCH

Politics lecturer, Stirling University

"The Labour Party has to do two different things, both of which will be hard to achieve. It has to appeal to its core electorate and it has to try to appeal to the electorate which it courted successfully in the early to mid-1990s, the aspirational voters.

"It's good that all three candidates for the leadership have said they will do something about the council tax. They are starting to wake up to some of the policy changes they have to make. This is difficult though, because Labour is still in power at Westminster and taking a different policy approach will not be easy."

ERIC JOYCE

Labour MP

"The Scottish Labour Party needs to be more New Labour. It shouldn't obsess itself with structures – it needs to be more New Labour in its policies.

"There should be more choice about public services. The Scottish Labour Party certainly needs to be aware of what has been achieved in England as far as waiting lists are concerned and a degree of choice.

"Politically, the bottom line is they mustn't obsess themselves with the constitution – that's not what made New Labour successful over the last ten years."

JOHN CURTICE

Professor of politics at Strathclyde University

"There are two things that the party has to do if it is to win in 2011, even though it is not entirely in its own hands to win back power.

"First, it has to reacquire a reputation for competence. Second, it has to adopt a stance that instils within the party an ability to claim effectively that it is willing to stand up for Scotland's interests as much as the SNP.

"This is proving to be a crucial issue in the leadership election, with Iain Gray seen as representing the Westminster interests and Andy Kerr taking a more Scottish approach."

JACKIE BAILLIE

Labour MSP

"The Scottish Labour Party must elect a leader who will be bold and ambitious to win again.

"Clearly, standing up for Scotland's interests will be key to success, coupled with the ideas and vision that chime with the aspirations of people across Scotland.

"We need to listen, learn and act to ensure that we are in tune with people's ambitions."

EWAN AITKEN

Former Labour leader, City of Edinburgh Council

"We need to speak to our natural supporters, the people who have struggled to continue to support us in recent times, and we need to listen to them to make sure they know they are being heard. People doubt whether we still have a 'value set'.

"People are talking about fuel price rises and the credit crunch; they have got to get the message that these things matter to us.

"We have to speak about our 'value set' because that is what people don't think we have got any more."

JILLIAN MERCHANT

Chair of Scottish Labour Students

"We all put in a lot of effort in (the by-election at] Glasgow East and obviously we want to win again.

"To do that, we need to change, there is no doubt about that.

"We need to make sure there is room for discussion that does not just involve elected members talking to themselves but takes in all of Scottish society, young members right up to pensioners and people who have been there for generations. That is crucial.

"Also, the leader role needs to be beefed up to give us more credibility against the Nationalists."

ANDY KERR

Labour MSP and leadership candidate

"We need a strong leader of the party in Scotland who will stand up for Scotland's interests inside and outside the parliament, who understands that elections are won on ideas and vision for the future.

"(We need] someone who understands the ambitions of Scots and can articulate the distinctive policies that will see Scots identify with Labour again as their party – the peoples' party."

LINDSAY McGARVIE

Media expert, McGarvie Morrison

"The SNP looks like a party that is fresh, dynamic, full of ideas and most importantly, has a leader who appears to have a populist vision. By contrast, Scottish Labour has looked for the last year like a party bereft – or even scared – of radical ideas.

"It must use this period of opposition to come up with a raft of fresh policies that chime with the Scottish public and demonstrate it is capable of making bold decisions independent of Westminster. Vitally, it must avoid playing the sort of negative yah-boo politics we are all fed up with."

JAMES MITCHELL

Professor of politics, Strathclyde University

"Labour needs to have an internal debate on what it stands for. It needs to set aside the discipline that New Labour brought.

"That discipline was good for what it did, but it now needs to move on and be very clear what it believes in, both on the constitution and on social and economic policy.

"We know what it doesn't stand for, but we don't know what it does stand for. It also has to come to terms with the new politics we have, with the Tories fairly certain to win the next Westminster election and the SNP a force in Scotland."

DAVE WATSON

Unison Scotland

"Labour needs to reconnect with working people and their families.

"This means policies that address issues like low pay, equality and protection at work. People who are feeling the impact of the current market failures need to know Labour can intervene to help them."

GURJIT SINGH

President of NUS Scotland

"The issue of local income tax is one of huge concern to working students at a time of greatly increased living costs. Students need far greater financial support, and we would call on the Labour Party to back our campaign for a minimum income guarantee for students.

"The issues affecting students are all too often misunderstood by politicians. The party which takes the time to understand these issues, and really tackles student hardship, will secure themselves votes, not just today but in the years to come."

IAIN GRAY

Labour MSP and leadership candidate

"I think we have to mobilise our membership to feel proud to make Labour's case again.

"To do that, that case has to be about people's day-to-day concerns and expressed in a language that makes sense to them.

"We have to be talking about cost-of-living issues, but we also have to be talking about how we would ensure that there are wider opportunities.

"This should be done through skills and apprenticeships and education for people's children, so they can look forward to an improving quality of life."

JOHANN LAMONT

Labour MSP and deputy leadership candidate

"People don't believe Labour seeks power for a purpose – they think power is our purpose. We have to go back and talk about the things we care about, the agenda of social justice.

"We need to do more to convince people that this isn't just a battle inside the Labour Party, but it is the reason we want power, so we can take on the SNP on its central deceit, which is that it is a party of social justice. We have to rebuild confidence that we have a reason to be in power; that there are things we care about and that we want to do."

IAIN McMILLAN

Director of CBI Scotland

"To win the trust of business, both the new Scottish Labour leader and the Labour Party will need to do what is right for growing the economy and to avoid doing things that will hold it back.

"There are many aspects to this, but it should include continuing to invest in the transport infrastructure; improving our education and skills, particularly in the sciences and in basic skills of literacy and numeracy; and improving the planning system, so there is a greater presumption in favour of development that will grow the economy."