Wendy Alexander does not lack experience in Scottish government but, as she formally takes up the reins of the Labour group at Holyrood today, a more pertinent question is whether she can create an effective opposition. She has already shown herself to be a politician of vision who sees more clearly than many in her party how far Labour must travel to make itself electable again in Scotland. Since May's elections and with Labour disillusioned by defeat, Alex Salmond and his party have had such a clear run in government that if another election were called today, the Nationalists would probably consolidate their hold on power. Yet effective opposition, capable of holding the government to account, is an important ingredient of parliamentary democracy. Can the Paisley North MSP inject a sense of purpose and direction into her demoralised ranks of MSPs and convince the electorate that Labour is capable of delivering what she calls "an agenda of hope and aspiration"?

Wendy Alexander does not lack experience in Scottish government but, as she formally takes up the reins of the Labour group at Holyrood today, a more pertinent question is whether she can create an effective opposition. She has already shown herself to be a politician of vision who sees more clearly than many in her party how far Labour must travel to make itself electable again in Scotland. Since May's elections and with Labour disillusioned by defeat, Alex Salmond and his party have had such a clear run in government that if another election were called today, the Nationalists would probably consolidate their hold on power. Yet effective opposition, capable of holding the government to account, is an important ingredient of parliamentary democracy. Can the Paisley North MSP inject a sense of purpose and direction into her demoralised ranks of MSPs and convince the electorate that Labour is capable of delivering what she calls "an agenda of hope and aspiration"?

In an interview in The Herald today to mark the start of her leadership, she focuses on the bread-and-butter issues she believes Scottish voters care about most, including council tax, education and housing. Ms Alexander is right to home in on local government finance. It is not only an area she understands better than the government and one that is a potential banana skin for the First Minister, it is also a suitable case for treatment. Council tax in its present form is regressive and the source of much justified grievance. Labour in Scotland stepped back from the recommendations of the Birt Report, fearing it could be an electoral liability. Yet, as Wendy Alexander points out, every other developed country depends to some extent on a domestic property tax. Birt's notion of a tax based on a variable percentage of a property's value is an idea that is worth revisiting. It recognises rightly that the wealth of some citizens is reflected in their property, rather than their income, whereas the SNP's local income tax would not only undermine local democracy but also create new categories of hard-luck cases.

On education, both Labour and SNP appear to be edging away from targets based on class sizes, which were always a crude measure of quality. Instead, Ms Alexander would put more emphasis on upskilling children struggling in upper primary, and she is right to include oral skills. However, opponents rightly will question why under Labour so many of our children are still not making the grade. Feedback from recent soundings has impressed on her the need for more and better quality social housing in Scotland. We agree. Talk of reinvigorating neighbourhoods and communities counts for little when so many lack a decent place to live. There is much to appreciate, but can Wendy Alexander persuade Scotland that her party is capable of delivering them?