Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham vowed to fight to win back the SNP-voting children and grandchildren of the people who built his party last night.
The shadow health secretary, who has Scottish roots on his mother’s side, declared that all parts of Scotland mattered to him during a visit to Aberdeen.
He also admitted that he did not believe the Labour party of modern times could have created the NHS.
Speaking to the Press and Journal ahead of a meeting in Tillydrone attended by 60 or so voting members, he said: “It’s a catastrophic loss of trust and we all know that.
“There are many reasons for it, but if you want to put your finger on one thing it’s this feeling Labour has become a London-centric party.
“I think it is about rebuilding the party from the bottom up.
“I have already told Kezia Dugdale we would want more autonomy for the Scottish party, and as leader I would want to spend a lot of time here.
“The grandparents, the great grandparents of people who voted SNP recently built our party. I don’t think they have gone forever but I want to show that I want to win back their support.
“Scotland is tremendously important, it’s our roots, it’s the history of our party, it is where it came from.
“Any of us who care about those things want to see Scottish Labour on the way back.”
Mr Burnham said it had been important to him to visit Scotland, and insisted: “I’m not a London politician, never have been, never will be.
“I would want to spend the time here to win back that support, to show the Labour party as a whole wants to rebuild but do it in the right way, as a party that listens to people at grass roots.
“Our movement is at a momentous and pretty dangerous moment in our history.
“Could the Labour party of recent times have created the NHS? It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that we could not have done that.”
Asked what more needed to be done to support the oil industry through its current downturn, he emphasised the need for flexibility on the part of the UK Treasury to ensure incentives as margins are squeezed.
During the meeting Mr Burnham was asked about a range of topics, including Libyan refugees and Trident, which he confirmed he would renew.
He also said he would oppose the Conservatives’ plans for trade unions if he becomes leader and that he wants to devolve Department for Work and Pensions budgets to local authorities.
Earlier in the day, Mr Burnham met Usdaw members at the Sainsbury’s store in Berryden.
Ballot papers for the contest to replace Ed Miliband began arriving on people’s doormats a week ago.
The winner of the four-way race between Jeremy Corbyn, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mr Burnham is due to be announced on September 12.