I am genuinely (and for a variety of reasons) more interested in a debate around the major issues facing Labour north of the border than in the personalities likely to be involved in the contest and I am therefore trying to keep an open mind and intend to listen to what each of the candidates have to say for themselves before finally making my mind up about who will do the job best. With acting-leader, Cathy Jamieson, a declared runner it remains to be seen whether we will see a dual contests for leader and deputy leader. While I have some concerns that the emergence of joint tickets could actually close down debate on some of the more contentious issues which might benefit from an airing, I do on balance believe that elections for the whole leadership team would be preferable. In addition, to the front-runners, Jamieson, and fellow former ministers - Iain Gray and Andy Kerr, Charlie Gordon and Ken Macintosh have signalled their intention to try and obtain the necessary signatures although I would think their chances of being successful in this endeavour are bound to be slim. As yet we do not know whether Margaret Curran will reprise her interest in either job, and while I hope she does join in, who could blame her if she decides to try and fit in some rest in this recess. Malcolm Chisholm, Davie Stewart, Rhona Brankin and Duncan McNeil would all make interesting candidates in a deputy leadership contests and there is always the possibility that one of the leadership candidates could run for both offices.

There remain a number of outstanding issues from Wendy Alexander's leadership and her leadership campaign, most notably on a referendum, which the contest can hopefully go someway towards resolving. Other matters include, the relationship between the Scottish and the wider UK Party and the role of the leader of the SPLP in relation to the organisation in Scotland and the Scottish Group of the Westminster PLP.

In my view Wendy Alexander's leadership suffered because she did not have the benefit of being able to set out a stall and promote her analysis in a competition before being thrust into the weekly rough and tumble of party politics as covered in the Scottish press and I hope that this time both the organisation and the respective campaigns will see the value in a full and frank discussion about how Labour reconnects with those it seeks to represent in Scotland.

As Glasgow East showed, the Scottish Party must be more than about just listening or 'standing up', it needs to have a clear and progressive agenda about how and why it wants to change Scotland and it must be vocal in its attempts to convince the voters that it has a vision not just an alternative management strategy. Labour in Scotland needs to face up to how far it has fallen in the public estimation and the contrast which people rightly or wrongly see between a confident and united SNP offering policies within the confines of the Scotland Act, which can be both popular and in a few cases genuinely radical and a perception which is being propagated of a tired Labour Party, more interested in fighting amongst itself and offering little in the way of analysis beyond a defence of the union which comes across as doing Scotland down instead of demonstrating the benefits of working together for the good of everyone on this island.

Each of the candidates will be keen to demonstrate that their approach to these questions is the one that should win the confidence of the electoral college and over the coming period I will mull over whether to post my own thoughts on the issues which I think each of the candidates must personally address, in the meantime this piece from yesterday's Scotsman has been giving me some food for thought.