Can Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale defeat SNP?

Kezia Dugdale has been elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour, asking voters across the country to “take a fresh look” at the party.

It comes after her party suffered its worst election defeat at the hands of the SNP in May, with Nicola Sturgeon’s party winning a historic 56 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and his deputy Kezia Dugdale MSP walk through the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. He beat his fellow MSP Richard Barker and Glasgow city council leader Gordon Matheson.

“I know this because I have been out on the doorsteps, I have been there with you”. We are down but we are not out.

It is hard to see Ms Dugdale making any great impact on Labour fortunes in Scotland.

The leader and deputy leader will be elected under a one-member-one-vote system after reforms to the election process were brought forward by Mr Murphy.

In 2013, she won the “one to watch” category at the annual Scottish Politician of the Year awards, partly as a result of her work with the Debtbusters campaign to crack down on payday lending.

“And I want a Scotland that backs parents who just want the best for their kids, young couples trying to buy their first home and someone who wants to take a risk by starting a new business”.

Party members will find out who their Scottish leader is at an event in Stirling on Saturday.

“I am not so presumptuous as to ask instantly for your vote, but in the recent election 700,000 of you stuck with us, but many of you chose someone else”, Ms Dugdale said.

Responding to the result, Ms Dugdale promised to work “night and day” to restore her party’s popularity in Scotland.

“The role of the next leader is to set out a positive Labour vision for transforming Scotland and to hold the SNP Government to account for their major failings on schools, the NHS and policing”.

As well as the contest in Scotland, party members are also in the process of choosing their next UK leader. “We are changing. I am part of a new generation”.

Left-winger Jeremy Corbyn is the shock favourite to take over, with other candidates including Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.