New Scottish Labour leader Marra promises to ‘start taking action now’

New Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has pledged to “start taking action now” to help his party win back the support of voters.He spoke about the need to “reconnect with the country” if Labour is to again win power at Holyrood.But the new leader – who defeated fellow MSP Joe Fagan to become the 11th Scottish labour leader of the devolution era – accepted that “journey and that process will take time”.He spoke out after winning 63% of the votes in a leadership contest that was sparked by Anas Sarwar quitting Holyrood to go to the House of Lords and join Andy Burnham’s Government.Michael Marra (left) defeated fellow MSP Joe Fagan (right) to become Scottish Labour’s new leader. (Lesley Martin/PA)Mr Marra, a North East Scotland MSP who has served as his party’s education spokesperson and finance spokesperson, polled 4,266 votes from party members and affiliates, comfortably defeating Mr Fagan, who secured 2,485.“It is the honour of my life to be elected leader of the Scottish Labour Party,” he said.While slightly less than half of the party’s members voted – 49.4% took part in the ballot – the new leader insisted he has “a really strong mandate in terms of the share of the vote”.Vowing to do this job the “best way I can”, Mr Marra said being elected as the new Scottish Labour leader was “a huge responsibility as well as a privilege”.And although he said he is “looking forward to the task ahead of me” he added he was “not naïve to the scale of the challenge”Mr Marra takes charge of the party after it suffered a fifth consecutive Holyrood election defeat in May, with the SNP once again returned to government.Speaking after his election he said: “May hurt so much because we know the SNP didn’t deserve a fifth term in power.“But the truth is, Scotland didn’t think we would be much better.”Labour, he insisted “must reconnect with the country if we are ever to form a government in Holyrood”.Mr Marra added: “We’ve got a big job ahead of us in terms of reconnecting right across the country and we’re going to get on with doing that job.”Read MoreTo help with that he pledged: “In my first 100 days, I will take Scottish Labour out of the bubble of parliament and back into the country.“We will work with people in their communities to understand what matters most, what is changing in their lives, and what they want for the future.”As well as seeking to “reconnect” his party with Scots, he made it a priority to “recover Labour’s purpose and build a programme for the future”.Mr Marra said he understood the challenges Labour faces in Scotland (Lesley Martin/PA)PA WireSpeaking to journalists after the result of the leadership contest was declared, Mr Marra reiterated his support for giving both the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields the go-ahead.“I want Rosebank and Jackdaw to be approved,” he said.But to further help the oil and gas sector he also said Andy Burnham’s Government at Westminster should reform the windfall tax on the industry “needs to happen sooner” than the planned 2030 date for the charge to be replaced.And while Scottish First Minister John Swinney is pushing for a second independence referendum before the end of this current Holyrood term in 2031, Mr Marra said he did “not believe there is a hunger for a referendum in this country”.He said: “I understand why many people backed independence in 2014 and continue to do so.“I’m from Dundee, which backed independence at a higher level than any other part of Scotland – friends and family voted yes in 2014.”To counter support for independence he said Labour has “to make sure we make that case for a stronger Scotland”.And he added: “This country has got weaker in the last 10 years, rather than stronger. We have got a weaker education system, we have got a weaker NHS, we have got a weaker economy.”Defeated leadership candidate Mr Fagan meanwhile congratulated the new leader on his win.The South of Scotland MSP added: “I look forward to working with Michael to build a party that delivers for working people.”