The leadership election victory of Iain Gray was unsurprising, but can the unassuming former teacher and aid worker prove a surprise packet now that he has the job?

The leadership election victory of Iain Gray was unsurprising, but can the unassuming former teacher and aid worker prove a surprise packet now that he has the job?

You have to assume that his job is safe for the next three years. Having had one leader last barely a year, it is impossible to imagine any circumstances in which the party in Scotland would force another succession this side of the next Holyrood election.

So Mr Gray has time to construct his profile, establish his personality, get his measure of the seemingly impossible task of standing up to the Salmond juggernaut and begin rebuilding a party that has come to resemble a crumbling husk.

A second Westminster by-election loss within months, should that occur, will come too early to reflect much on him. As he sees it, the only thing mattering on his watch is the 2011 Scottish election, which rather overlooks Mr Salmond's timetable for a referendum in the year before that.

George Foulkes was, as is not unknown, a bit of an embarrassment even when trying to be helpful, saying: "I think today's election of Iain Gray as leader of the Labour Party in Scotland is as significant as the day Tony Blair was elected leader of Labour in the UK and over the next few months I think you will see that kind of development, improvement and regeneration of the party."

Evading this friendly fire, Mr Gray said: "What Tony Blair did to turn the party round was to begin to listen to people's concerns and aspirations and talk about those things in language that made sense to a broad coalition of the British public.

"That's what we have to do in Scotland and that is the strategy I intend to take forward into 2011."

There was further friendly fire from Des Browne, Secretary of State for Scotland, who felt the need to make an aside reminding Mr Gray to "respect the structure of this party".

This apparent slapdown to ensure the new Holyrood leader did not get ambitions above his station about being the real leader of the party was wholly unnecessary, given that in Mr Gray the Westminster MPs got the victor they wanted in this contest.

Mr Gray made a decent job of shrugging this off, denying any "turf war" but explaining in the gentlest terms the mandate he now had: "Yes, the job I have to do is leader of Labour in the Scottish Parliament. I also have a responsibility to MPs as well as MSPs, to affili- ates but above all to the wider party membership in Scotland.

"The first thing that I did was to go to Glenrothes, a Westminster by-election and to lead the members there in their efforts. That is the exercise of leadership beyond the job description.

"That is what I mean when I said I had a wider mandate and a wider responsibility."

His job now is to find his own style and voice, particularly at set-pieces in Holyrood against the First Minister. Labour's Duncan McNeil said of Alex Salmond that bullies always get their comeuppance.

However, Mr Gray will not get away with playing the victim.

To a degree, Wendy Alexander tried that, but Mr Gray can find his own way back at Mr Salmond if he is focused, forensic and detailed, relentlessly forcing the First Minister back on his weakest ground of minutiae to undermine any bluster.

Mr Gray knows the gut-wrenching feeling of failure. He lost Edinburgh Pentlands to the Tories five years ago and was part of the Scotland Office team watched the SNP pull off victory last year.

He said of this yesterday: "Both Bill Clinton and Donald Dewar lost political decision in the past and managed to come back. I don't claim their stature but I'm happy to follow their example."

He may be styling himself the Comeback Kid but he will need to cultivate the populist touch of Mr Clinton and the gravitas of Mr Dewar if he is to turn round Labour's fortunes.

At least he has three years to give it his best shot.