Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Labour leadership candidates face grilling in Aberdeen

The Scottish Parliament debating chamber.
The Scottish Parliament debating chamber.

 

Scottish Labour Party members across the north-east will have the opportunity to grill leadership candidates later this week.

A hustings event is being held in the Park Inn by Radisson hotel on Justice Mill Lane on Friday at 7pm.

Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale and Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, will try to persuade members why they should be given the top job at a time when the party has all been wiped out at Westminster.

The audiences will also hear pitches from deputy leadership candidates north-east MSP Richard Baker, Glasgow City Council leader Gordon Matheson and Cowdenbeith MSP Alex Rowley.

No date has been set for a hustings event in the Highlands and Islands where the party is currently represented by list MSPs Dave Stewart and Rhoda Grant.

A recent opinion poll suggested that the SNP is on course to increase its majority in next year’s Holyrood election – a situation that could lead to Labour not winning a single constituency.

Six out of 10 people – 60% – plan to vote for Nicola Sturgeon’s party in the first past the post vote on May 5, according to a survey carried out by pollster TNS.

Speaking at the weekend, Ms Dugdale, a former party deputy leader, said: “We may not be at the bottom of where the Labour party could get to in Scottish public life.

“There might be another storm coming.”

The first hustings will be held in Edinburgh this evening.

Acting Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray, who led the party from 2008-2011, said: “This contest is a chance for our candidates, and the party as a whole, to start the work of regaining the trust of people in Scotland.

“This can’t be a conversation simply amongst ourselves.

“We need to speak to, and hear from, people who share our Labour values but haven’t joined our movement.

“Only by reaching out to people all across the country can we rebuild our party.”

Mr Gray admitted that the road back to victory for Scottish Labour would be “long and difficult”.

“Change doesn’t happen overnight,” he added.

“The leadership contest will be an important party in making that change happen.”