Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland Margaret Curran has backed Jim Murphy to lead the Labour Party north of the border.
She claimed the East Renfrewshire MP had the ideas to move the country forward and was not afraid to take on difficult arguments.
Mr Murphy – a former Scottish Secretary – is competing for the top job against Lothians MSPs Sarah Boyack and Neil Findlay.
Elgin’s Kezia Dugdale, also a Lothians MSP, and Katy Clark, MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, are competing for the deputy party leadership.
Labour Party members have until noon tomorrow to cast their votes. The winners will be announced on Saturday.
Ms Curran, a Glasgow MP, said: “We need someone with ideas for how we can take Scotland forward and that’s exactly what Jim has been talking about for the past five weeks.
“From his pledges to put women at the heart of his leadership to his plans to overhaul our education system, his call for a 50p tax to support the poorest and his radical plan to campaign for a wage rise for up to half a million Scots, he has been first with the ideas about how we take Scotland forward.
“And he isn’t afraid to take on difficult arguments or front up a campaign.
“His 100 days tour during the referendum showed exactly why he’s best placed to be leading the fight for Scottish Labour.”
Mr Murphy, a former shadow international development secretary, said he was delighted to have Ms Curran’s backing.
On the basis of support already declared by Scottish Labour members and trade unions, he and Ms Dugdale are the favourites to win.
However, in order to participate in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Murphy would have to become a MSP so in the interim it is likely that Ms Dugdale would lead the party at Holyrood and challenge Nicola Sturgeon at first minister’s question time.
Ms Dugdale took her deputy leadership campaign to the Western Isles yesterday and claimed the party had to reject the SNP’s “one size fits all” approach to Scotland.
“In recent years, we have seen a relentless process of centralisation in Edinburgh,” she said.
“The whole point of devolution is to take government closer to the people and to tailor policy to their needs.”