Andy Burnham should back a “proper” review into Scottish Labour’s catastrophic election defeat, former First Minister Jack McConnell has said.
Lord McConnell said an in-depth analysis of “what went wrong” for the party is needed following its worst-ever Holyrood result.
The Labour peer also urged the incoming prime minister to scrap the “ridiculous” Scotland Office.
Scottish Labour has launched a review led by its Scottish Executive Committee, but Lord McConnell told Holyrood magazine: “There’s no evidence so far that a proper review is going on with what went wrong in the election campaign, and I think unless you have a proper review, things get worse instead of better.
“I would go back to 2007 where there was never an open and extended debate on why we had lost, I think, because we only lost by half a per cent.
“People thought, ‘well, if you change the leader and we have some new people in place, it’ll all swing back again’, instead of saying, ‘we’ve got some time here in opposition to have a debate, to open up’, and when you do that, you end up with, I think, ultimately with better ideas and a way forward.
“I’ve always thought that the 2011 election result in Scotland was partly a direct result of not having an open debate in the party between 2007 and 2011.”
Lord McConnell, who was First Minister between 2001 and 2007, said current Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar “should be calling for that kind of detailed review” into what went wrong for the party in May this year.
“I think Andy [Burnham] should be saying there needs to be that and that he wants to hear the results of that review of the evidence,” he added.
“Obviously, political parties are different from the way they used to operate but I do think that politics is stronger when people have had to test their ideas, examine what’s gone wrong, and then debate the way ahead, and I think to continually just change leaders and demand loyalty without having that debate doesn’t work.
“It just does not work.”
Lord McConnell appeared to back Sarwar staying on as Scottish Labour leader, saying: “If he feels that he still has a contribution to make, and that he can be part of that recovery, supporting those MPs and the work that they are doing, then I think people would respect that choice.”
The former first minister also told Holyrood magazine the Scotland Office should be scrapped.
McConnell is not believed to be close to current Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander.
He said: “I think it’s ridiculous that we still have a Scotland Office and a Wales Office.
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“I would scrap them and put the three territorial national offices inside a big Department of the Nations and Regions with a powerful leader who has got the regular ear of the prime minister and is a leader within the cabinet.”