IF the past in another country, the early days of the Holyrood parliament belong to a separate continent. Exploring them feels like work for an intrepid archaeologist, a fossil-hunter even, rather than a day-to-day journalist.

In the first election in 1999, Labour won 56 seats. Back then, Donald Dewar's party was airily uninterested in the regional seats, which account for 56 of the parliament's full complement of 129.

Constituency candidates were not allowed to put themselves forward for a place on what were dismissively known as "top-up" lists. The party had no strategy for winning second votes. Why should it? It expected to poll so heavily in the constituencies it would never pick up many seats in the regions under the proportional voting system.

In short, regional seats were for the smaller parties. And that meant any party other than Labour.

In that first parliament, only three of Labour's 56 MSPs were from the lists, all in Highlands & Islands region. It is no bold or adventurous prediction to say the 2016 election will be very different. Given its crushing General Election defeat, the lists will be crucial to Labour's hopes not only of denying the SNP an overall majority but of maintaining a foothold in the Scottish parliament.

To an extent, Labour is already there. Of its 38 present MSPs, just 16 have a constituency with the remaining 22 representing one of Scotland's eight electoral regions.

Labour do things differently now, too. The blanket ban on constituency candidates standing on the list withered away a while ago. The current crop of regional MSPs are heavily protected by rules safeguarding their prime places in the lists and, as a result, their best hope of re-election.

That means in Glasgow, for example, the top three places will be occupied by Hanzala Malik, Drew Smith and Anne McTaggart.

The rules might be about the change, however. On Saturday, when he announced his resignation, Jim Murphy said the final act of his unhappy tenure as Scottish Labour leader would be to produce a report on the way forward for the "least modernised part of the UK Labour movement," as he put it.

He will discuss policy and recommend a switch to one-member-one-vote for leadership elections, bringing his party into line with UK Labour.

He is also expected to consider the thorny issue of Scottish Labour separating itself completely from the UK party. Given his desire to "defend solidarity across the UK in the face of rising nationalisms," it would a surprise if he recommended quite such a radical step.

In addition, there is growing speculation he will call for the party's regional lists to be opened up to new selection contests, ending sitting MSPs' protection. The move is seen as a way of ensuring the best candidates have the best chance of election but, as one insider warned, it could lead to a bruising period as hopefuls scramble for a place high enough on the list to give them a chance of election.

Mr Murphy will present his report next month and has already told colleagues Labour would ignore it "at its peril".

But with so many MSPs having a vested interest in sticking with the present arrangements, change may be hard to force through