Back bencher urges Labour not to retreat to its heartlands

Labour back bencher Ken Macintosh is preparing a run for the party's leadership at Holyrood, arguing the party needs to avoid retrenching into its heartlands.

Deputy leader Cathy Jamieson is now certain to run, after the timetable is set by headquarters officials on Monday, joining finance spokesman Iain Gray who has already indicated he is in the field.

The race to replace Wendy Alexander, who abruptly resigned four weeks ago after months of being undermined by investigations into her campaign fund-raising, begins again in the wake of the Glasgow East by-election. The contest was postponed so that the party could focus its energy on backing Margaret Curran's candidacy in the constituency. Ms Curran was herself previously considered one of those in the frame for contesting the leadership.

The likely leadership candidates have been taking soundings of MSPs and others in the party to prepare the ground for a campaign that will continue until late September.

Mr Gray, the East Lothian MSP and a former enterprise minister, was first to declare his hand. Ms Jamieson, who is acting leader, said publicly she is thinking about it, but she is now clear that she intends to be a candidate. Charlie Gordon, the former Glasgow Council leader who represents Glasgow Cathcart at Holyrood, has said he is seeking nomination.

Mr Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, is understood to be offering a fresh start without having been involved in previous administrations. His pitch is that the party must not be drawn into its traditional heartlands, where many of the electorate in the leadership vote are based. Representing East Renfrewshire, he is from the New Labour wing of the party that has put down roots in areas that were not traditionally Labour.

Others in the party query whether he has sufficient support in the MSP group to get the necessary six nominations, and he could struggle to secure trade union backing.

Trade union members, through a postal ballot, hold a third of the voting power in the electoral college by which Ms Alexander's successor will be selected. A third of the voting power is in the hands of MPs, MSPs and MEPs, and the other third comes from a postal ballot of all Scottish party members.

While that process will take two months, Scottish LibDems today return to their own leadership contest after the Glasgow East by-election, following the unexpected resignation of Nicol Stephen earlier this month, citing the need to spend more time with his young family.

Ross Finnie, the LibDem health spokesman and former Rural Affairs and Environment Minister, is to launch his bid for the party's top job in Glasgow today. Tavish Scott, the finance spokesman, has done so in his Shetland constituency, and Mike Rumbles, MSP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, is trying for a second time to secure the leadership.

With those three likely to be the only candidates when nominations close today, roughly 5000 voting papers go out to members next week. There are hustings in Aberdeen and Inverness on August 9 and in Edinburgh and Glasgow on August 16. The result is scheduled for August 26.