17 Years Since Scottish Labour Last Won a Holyrood Election; Scottish Labour Leader Richard Leonard say that arrogant SNP thinks it has a right to rule Scotland, Leonard is right, they are arrogant but they are comfortable in their arrogance because the opposition is weak and won't step up to fight them, Scottish Labour hasn't won a Holyrood election in 17 years, it is time to reform the party now, how many defeats does it take for a party like Scottish Labour to embrace real change?

Dear All

Political parties in opposition to a government have to be outspoken, they have to be seen as a government in waiting, and they have convince the public, of the merits of their policies and the merits of their candidates and elected politicians. Labour leader Richard Leonard says that the arrogant SNP believes they have the right to rule Scotland, I think if you look at the situation at present, you would have to agree with that statement. One thing tho, the SNP's arrogance is based on a lie, based on the opposition lacking vision and based on the fact the SNP has used the Scottish Government as a campaigning vehicle for the SNP. It also has to be said, the SNP are more effective at campaigning on the ground, and they're have a better organisational setup.

If Labour leader Richard Leonard wants to tackle the SNP, he like a football manager will need 'better players' on his team at Holyrood. These better players should also have a dual role, making the Labour Party function as a better team, from the grassroots up to the Staffers. Scottish Labour cannot sit and wait till the SNP become unpopular at the ballot box, they have to do the hard graft to get them into power, door to door, street by street. Why does it have to be this way, simply the Scottish Labour Party has a lot to make up for in terms of winning back the voters. In previous articles, I said that the party needs a new campaigning model, but it needs more than that, it needs to change the way it operates. You simply cannot rely on people to vote for the party based on the former developments of the party in the past that led to thecreation of the NHS and the welfare state.

Scottish Labour is a party that needs reset, it needs policies so huge in scope, that people would put them on a par with what Nye Bevan. Free tampons and repeal of the fitba act do not in any way shape of form compete with Nye Bevan's founding of the NHS or the creation of the welfare state. Many people voted for Scottish Labour because of policies like these and for the men and women who delivered them. Scottish Labour needs to rediscover itself and the reason why people voted for them. Holyrood 2021can be used as a start sure, as well as the 2022 council elections, but the real test for the party which requires drive and vision will and should happen in 2024. Westminster 2024 whether Richard Leonard likes it or not will be seen as a test not just for the party but also of Richard Leonard as leader. He has to head up a team that works and makes progress at Holyrood, he needs to carry that momentum to the council election, and then really push, not just fill slots for candidates in 2024.

Scottish Labour needs to change, the question is who is going to do it, because just producing policy and failing to look at the real problems of the internal pickle that Scottish Labour finds itself in, won't work. You don't paint a house which is condemned, you tear it down build another, take others with you and rebuild, then whip out the paint and brushes. Scottish Labour needs to be taken back to foundation level, and that means previous people on the job may find themselves moved.

The last time that Scottish Labour won a Holyrood election was 2003, that was circa 17 years ago, looking at that figure, and given the present situation, the party will crack being out of power for two decades in May. It is hard to be brutal about it because, everything seems to be business as usual with the party, and there has been no reform. Why has there been no reform, that isn't just a question for the leader, it is also a question for every CLP, every committee and everybody that decides policy. It is also a in part a matter for the unions, as they play a part in Labour's successes and failures. As Brexit is done, Scottish Labour needs to look at the new landscape which is 'Global UK', the Brexit war is over, those who fought as remainers lost, and have to make the case for Scotland making a go of it as Global UK. Global UK is how Scottish Labour start its way back with voters, it represents change, and opportunity. It is better to be leading the change with ideas than just merely following in its wake and from the sidelines.

So, what about the SNP, they lost indy, they lost Brexit and they lost their supposed route in the EU. They are a party without a narrative, other than grievance culture which is all they have left. Grievance culture will eventually do for them, but we should leave that process to them, we have to help them out by getting them out. Like Asda,the SNP can be 'rollback' in the political sphere but that doesn't mean parties like Scottish Labour can just sit there, they have a lot to do, to rebuild communities, rebuild education, fix governance in Scotland, fix councils, and then keep going to fix everything else the SNP trashed. Vanity projects by the SNP and every penny they handed out will have to be traced and proven to be value for money. If someone gets Scottish Government cash, they have to prove value, if not they ain't getting a nickle. So many people do good work for the vulnerable but they don't get recognised, while others hand out a few containers of veggie food and get a gong, especially it seems if they are SNP supporters and potential candidates.

Richard Leonard says and insisted his party delivered better devolution and will defend it. Well, that's one job, what about all the rest? It is time that the other issues which the SNP don't want to talk about need aired. Leonard  said he believed a devolved parliament within the UK "is still the popular choice of the people of Scotland". One thing he should be mindful of, is that the popular choice has a growing number of people who think Holyrood because of its antics needs closed down. As the SNP cry for independence, if the Labour Party cannot turn Holyrood around, then the chants of close the place may end up as equally loud. Politics in Scotland is broken,  and the SNP sit as a cancer polluting everything from Holyrood downwards to councils and even into the NGO sector and government organisations which should be non partisan. 

Speaking to the media, Leonard said:

"The questions that I get asked are based on the SNP sweeping to a majority [at May's Holyrood election], and there is a certain arrogance about the SNP, there is a certain belief that somehow they've got a right to rule for the next five years. I dispute that."

Richard Leonard also had to listen to some brutal opinion as the radio station played Mr Leonard the results of a focus group of 2014 No voters, who dismissed his party as "finished" and "plodding along".

Finished, I don't think I am there with that opinion, "plodding along" is certainly the case, and that has been happening since 2007. Leonard said Scottish Labour has suffered an electoral decline and needs to turn that around. How he do that if there isn't the will to turn around the party from inside? Reform, reform and reform, can Richard Leonard not see that people aren't voting for Scottish Labour for specific reasons? People voted SNP as a protest vote because elected representatives failed people in constituencies, and what happened to those MPs, MSPs and Cllrs, who did this, absolutely nothing. You don't vote for people who don't represent you, that is the route to madness. Scottish Labour need to cull people who add no value to the party in constituencies, the ones who don't work and whose laziness brings down the party in the eyes of the public. You can plenty of example of people who do what needs to be done, but the rotten apples, they just sit there, protected in some cases.

If Richard Leonard says he does not underestimate the scale of the challenge, he will get a chance to see at Holyrood 2021 what the public thinks of his vision. If he recognises the challenge, everyone will see if he rises to the challenge, if nothing is his default, he will only have himself to blame.

Scottish Labour last won a Holyrood election in 2003, that was circa 17 years ago, they have done nothing to change since then beyond what could be dressed as moving a few plant pots about, then patting themselves on the back for doing so. Asked if he will be First Minister after the Holyrood election in May, Richard Leonard said he is "fighting for every single vote and every single seat", one thing which he will not be able to dodge is the election result. In his interview, he should have laid out a blue print for a new Scotland, he has to go beyond well meaning feelgood, and get to the nitty gritty, what he is going to do, how he is going to fix it and who he is going to bring in to get the job done right. It isn't enough to say he is offering a "different kind of future" and not spell it out, because like it or not, it is 4 months to the election. 

You don't need Richard Leonard to tell you inequality and child poverty are rising in Scotland, you need him to spell out how he is going to end it, and the steps to do so. Don't talk about fixing the problem, fix the problem!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University