The B Team
I wrote a while back that the Labour party in Scotland needs a Mr T - someone with the drive and style to take on Alex Salmond and the SNP.
But my advice seems to have fallen on deaf ears - as the Labour leader Ed Miliband announced details of his new Team Scotland - following a re-shuffle of the official opposition at Westminster.
The newspapers report today that Mr Miliband’s new team includes:
Cathy Jamieson at the Treasury
Russell Brown and Gemma Doyle at Defence
Tom Greatrex at Energy and Climate Change
Ian Murray at Business
Anne McGuire and Gregg McClymont at Work and Pensions
Fiona O’Donnell at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Who join Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander.
And as well as their own shadow responsiblities Team Scotland will also will work with the new Shadow Scotland Office team - we are told - which includes Margaret Curran, Willie Bain and former defence minister Lord Browne.
None of the above are even standing for the top job of course - to be leader of the Scottish Labour party - which speaks volumes.
Only three people have any ambition to lead the party it seems - Tom Harris (MP), Johann Lamont (MSP) and Ken Mcintosh (MSP).
The big beasts at Westminster can't even be bothered - to throw their hats in the ring.
Labour Needs a Mr T (May 7 2011)
Thursday's election result has landed Scottish Labour with a B-Team from which to choose its new leader - when they desperately need a real A-Team sort of person - a leader with real style and pizazz.
Someone with that X Factor who can lift the party out of its doldrums - a Mr T figure who can rally the dispirited troops - and breathe new life in a party that has lost its way.
But whether they can do so from the talent pool left to the party after Thursday's election - is another matter altogether.
Most of the obvious contenders have either fled to Westminster already or lost their seats - in the rout by the SNP.
And what's left doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Be honest - who would you want to take with you from the Labour opposition group - if you were going on a big night out on the town?
I think I'd prefer to stay in and watch the telly - or even clean the oven.
Maybe I shouldn't laugh - but the sorry state of the Labour party pains me somewhat because I used to be a member - albeit a long time ago.
What's clear is that it's not good for Scottish democracy or the body politic - for Labour to be laid so low - even if they got what they so richly deserved after all these years.
So what Labour needs is its own Mr T - or maybe even a Mrs T - though on second thoughts another Mrs T might not go down so well with the Scottish voters.
Ah well, back to the drawing board.
But my advice seems to have fallen on deaf ears - as the Labour leader Ed Miliband announced details of his new Team Scotland - following a re-shuffle of the official opposition at Westminster.
The newspapers report today that Mr Miliband’s new team includes:
Cathy Jamieson at the Treasury
Russell Brown and Gemma Doyle at Defence
Tom Greatrex at Energy and Climate Change
Ian Murray at Business
Anne McGuire and Gregg McClymont at Work and Pensions
Fiona O’Donnell at Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Who join Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander.
And as well as their own shadow responsiblities Team Scotland will also will work with the new Shadow Scotland Office team - we are told - which includes Margaret Curran, Willie Bain and former defence minister Lord Browne.
None of the above are even standing for the top job of course - to be leader of the Scottish Labour party - which speaks volumes.
Only three people have any ambition to lead the party it seems - Tom Harris (MP), Johann Lamont (MSP) and Ken Mcintosh (MSP).
The big beasts at Westminster can't even be bothered - to throw their hats in the ring.
Labour Needs a Mr T (May 7 2011)
Thursday's election result has landed Scottish Labour with a B-Team from which to choose its new leader - when they desperately need a real A-Team sort of person - a leader with real style and pizazz.
Someone with that X Factor who can lift the party out of its doldrums - a Mr T figure who can rally the dispirited troops - and breathe new life in a party that has lost its way.
But whether they can do so from the talent pool left to the party after Thursday's election - is another matter altogether.
Most of the obvious contenders have either fled to Westminster already or lost their seats - in the rout by the SNP.
And what's left doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Be honest - who would you want to take with you from the Labour opposition group - if you were going on a big night out on the town?
I think I'd prefer to stay in and watch the telly - or even clean the oven.
Maybe I shouldn't laugh - but the sorry state of the Labour party pains me somewhat because I used to be a member - albeit a long time ago.
What's clear is that it's not good for Scottish democracy or the body politic - for Labour to be laid so low - even if they got what they so richly deserved after all these years.
So what Labour needs is its own Mr T - or maybe even a Mrs T - though on second thoughts another Mrs T might not go down so well with the Scottish voters.
Ah well, back to the drawing board.
