Johann Lamont: No quick fix for Scottish Labour

Johann Lamont said the SNP "took all before them" in a general election campaign that "got everything right"

Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont has said there can be "no quick fix" and her party must analyse its election mauling if it is to survive.

In her first broadcast interview since resigning, Ms Lamont said the scale of the party's election defeat was worse than anyone "possibly imagined".

The party must now elect a leader "for the long haul" to recover, she said.

Ms Lamont also praised the SNP and its leader Nicola Sturgeon for running a campaign that "got everything right".

The SNP won 56 out of 59 seats in Scotland in last month's general election.

Labour was left with just one MP in Scotland, after losing 40 seats, including those of Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander.

'No ploys, no gimmicks'

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Johann Lamont, who led Scottish Labour from 2011 to 2014, said: "Even those of us who were preparing for the worst possible defeat couldn't possibly have imagined what happened.

"We couldn't have predicted it, but we need to analyse it if we're going to survive.

"The instinct of the Labour Party is if there's a problem, change the leader, then sit back, fold your arms and wait to be disappointed because they're sure it's not going to deliver.

"We can't do that this time. We need to elect a leader not on a short term contract, but a long term appointment for the long haul. There is no quick fix to this, there are not any ploys, not any gimmicks, that will get us through the next period.

Johann Lamont said SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon "shone" during the general election campaign

She said it "defies logic" that Labour MPs of the "highest calibre" lost their seats, but said the SNP "took all before them".

"That therefore means people were putting faith not just in individual candidates, but putting faith in a message that was coming to them from the SNP.

She said the SNP had provided "a lesson in how to run a campaign", and leader Nicola Sturgeon had been "completely in control".

"It seems to me they got everything right, and Nicola Sturgeon has become a politician over many years. She was the most experienced person on the podium during the leaders' debate, and that shone out."

Offensive comments

Ms Lamont added that she felt some comments about the new SNP MPs had been "disrespectful".

"Some of the commentary around some of them choosing to take their oath in Gaelic I found personally offensive as a Gael," she said.

"They are a mixed bunch like any bunch of people, but the fact of the matter is they are significantly representing Scotland's interests."

Ms Lamont, who is MSP for Glasgow Pollok, resigned as Scottish Labour leader last October accusing Westminster colleagues of treating Scotland like a "branch office".

Deputy Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has announced she will stand for the party leadership

"The recovery [of Labour] in Scotland which matters to the whole of the United Kingdom must be shaped in Scotland itself," she said.

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has announced he will tender his resignation later this month having tabled a plan to reform the party.

Deputy leader Kezia Dugdale has confirmed she will stand for the leadership.