Labour will not revisit its stance on the constitution – despite the party’s deputy leader suggesting their electoral defeat was inevitable because they failed to advocate “home rule for Scotland”.
Alex Rowley claimed he had urged the party leadership to argue for sweeping new powers in addition to those already devolved, but had been rebuffed.
Mr Rowley – who lost his seat of Cowdenbeath last week but was returned to Holyrood as a regional list MSP – said it was “illogical” to try to move on from the constitutional debate when “the country has not”.
A Labour insider confirmed Mr Rowley had advocated his “long held position” of arguing for greater devolution – but added there were no plans among the leadership to revisit the issue.
Mr Rowley said: “We need to define a positive case for the future of Scotland, built around home rule for Scotland. That’s where I believe we should be, and where we should have been.
“But a decision was taken early in the campaign that we weren’t going to focus on the constitution because some people believed we needed to put the case for moving on.
“I can see the argument for that but it’s illogical when the country is in a completely different place. The country hasn’t moved on and it looked like we didn’t know where we stood.
“It left us in a position where every time the constitution came up, we looked very uncertain.
“It wasn’t going to win back Yes voters and No voters felt uncomfortable supporting us too, so it’s hardly surprising we’re in the position we find ourselves in today.”
His view is in contrast to those of others in the party, such as former MP Thomas Docherty, who have suggested the party’s stance on taxation was primarily responsible for their drubbing on Thursday.
A Labour Party source said: “This has been (Mr Rowley’s) long-held position.
“But there are no plans to delve back into our position on the constitution.”
Scottish Labour slipped into third place following Thursday’s vote – their worst election performance north of the border since 1910.
As the votes were still being counted, former MP Mr Docherty, who was standing on the regional list in Mid Scotland and Fife but did not get elected, launched a stinging tirade against his own party’s manifesto, claiming it was “self-immolation for dummies”.
Mr Docherty’s comments were criticised by others in the party at the time.
