JEREMY Corbyn, Labour’s new leader, is expected to travel to Scotland next week as he puts winning back voters who switched to the SNP as one of his leadership’s “top priorities”.

Leftwing MSP Neil Findlay, who was Mr Corbyn’s campaign chief in Scotland, described as “absolutely fantastic” the Islington North MP’s emphatic victory – he won 59.5 per cent of the vote, gaining 251,417 of the 422,664 votes cast - and that people should expect the new party leader “to be in Scotland very soon and very often and he is committed to that”.

The Lothian MSP insisted the Corbyn victory meant “you can certainly put the red Tory tag in the bin”.

He said it also represented a “huge challenge to the SNP because we know that for them it’s rhetoric over reality in terms of their opposition to austerity. This is the real deal now. They have to make their mind up where they stand on a number of issues. So I’m very encouraged”.

Mr Findlay claimed Mr Corbyn’s politics would play very well in Scotland. “You only need to look at what people were saying at the rallies; they we’re saying they were Labour and they wanted to support the party but they left us at the election or the referendum because they did not think we stood up for Labour values anymore. This has been a campaign rooted in Labour values and we will now have a real opportunity to get a whole lot of people back.”

Kezia Dugdale, the new Scottish Labour leader, who was also at the results declaration at the QEII Centre in London, said both she and Mr Corbyn represented a “fresh start” for the party north and south of the border.

She said she was “delighted” at the prospect of working alongside the new UK party leader.

The Lothian MSP explained: “He understands Scotland. He’s had a strong campaign in Scotland. He’s got people around him talking to him about the referendum. He understands the lie of the land there. The more he is in Scotland, the better…I look forward to welcoming him to Edinburgh.”

Ms Dugdale revealed she had spoken briefly to Mr Corbyn after his victory speech. “He was talking about coming next week; if we can make that work I’ll be delighted to welcome him to Edinburgh.”

Ian Murray, the Shadow Scottish Secretary - who is expected, as Labour’s only MP north of the border, to keep his role – denied Mr Corbyn’s victory was a disaster for the party.

“It was an enthusiastic democratic process, over half a million people involved in it; that’s one per cent of the adult population across the UK. You can’t say that’s a disaster; that’s a democratic movement, which has brought all parts of the party together in what has been a very inclusive and successful campaign for the Labour movement.”

The Edinburgh MP pointed out how the London MP had won all sections – party members, registered supporters and registered supporters – “pretty handsomely”.

He went on: “We have to unite behind Jeremy Corbyn and take his policies forward and look forward to a bright future.”

Asked if the leftwinger could lead Labour to victory at the 2020 General Election, Mr Murray replied: “Jeremy Corbyn will set out a positive policy platform…and if the public respond to that policy platform, he will win the 2020 election.

“Let’s see what he does. He is asking the party to unite, which means he has got to reach out. If he reaches out, I’m pretty confident a united party will be a strong party and the public will respond to that.”

Mr Murray revealed to The Herald over summer that in his five and a half years at Westminster Mr Corbyn had not had a conversation with him. Asked if he had spoken to him yet, the Shadow Scottish Secretary said: “No. I’ll have a conversation with him this afternoon no doubt; hopefully.”

Responding to Mr Corbyn’s victory, Henry McLeish, the former Labour Scottish First Minister, urged the new UK party leader to push for "home rule" for Scotland.

He said the London MP should work with MSPs to deliver "an alternative to the current position on devolution".

Mr McLeish explained: "If Corbyn does the right thing he can garner a lot of support in Scotland, stop the haemorrhaging of Labour voters to the SNP, work with us to get an alternative to the current position on devolution, push for home rule.

"If he can do all of these things, listen, take Kezia Dugdale into his confidence, then I am sure Kezia will want to maintain her distance in terms of being a more independent party but working with the sister party down south to make sure we make progress."

For the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon congratulated the London MP and offered to work with him to oppose the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons and against "Tory austerity".

But the First Minister noted: "The reality today is that at a time when the country needs strong opposition to the Tories, Jeremy Corbyn leads a deeply, and very bitterly, divided party.

"Indeed, if Labour cannot quickly demonstrate that they have a credible chance of winning the next UK General Election, many more people in Scotland are likely to conclude that independence is the only alternative to continued Tory government," added the SNP leader.

There were loud celebrations in the QEII conference hall when Jim Kennedy, who chairs the party's National Executive Committee, announced Mr Corbyn had won. People cheered and whistled and some began to chant “Jez we did”.

The leftwinger took 59.5 per cent of the vote - 251,417 of the 422,664 votes cast - against 19 per cent for Andy Burnham, 17 per cent for Yvette Cooper and 4.5 per cent for Liz Kendall. The scale of Mr Corbyn’s dwarfed even the mandate for Tony Blair in 1994.

An overwhelming 85 per cent of people who signed up as affiliated supporters for £3 voted for Mr Corbyn yet he also topped the ballot among party members and trade unionists.

Accepting his new post, Mr Corbyn said the campaign had shown "our party and our movement, passionate, democratic, diverse, united and absolutely determined in our quest for a decent and better society that is possible for all".

He claimed that over three amazing months of the campaign, the party had changed. “We have grown enormously because of the hopes of so many ordinary people for a different Britain, a better Britain, a more equal Britain, a more decent Britain.

"They are fed up with the inequality, the injustice, the unnecessary poverty. All those issues have brought people in in a spirit of hope and optimism...The fightback now of our party gathers speed and gathers pace."

He announced that his first act as leader would be to attend a "Refugees Welcome Here" rally and his first day at the helm of his party in Parliament would be spent opposing Government plans to "shackle" trade unions by imposing higher thresholds for strike ballots.

Mr Corbyn is due to speak at the TUC’s annual conference in Brighton on Tuesday when he will receive a hero’s welcome.

During his acceptance speech the party leader attacked the media’s targeting of his family and in an impassioned plea urged elements of it to “leave them alone”. It is believed that Mr Corbyn will forego the usual leader’s appearance on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning. There were even suggestions the new Labour leader might not routinely attend the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons.

Although Mr Corbyn has stressed how he wants to unite the parliamentary party, within minutes of his victory there were resignations from Labour’s frontbench.

Ms Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, confirmed she did not expect to take a Shadow Cabinet post, while Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, announced she would go to the backbenches when she returns from maternity leave.

Emma Reynolds, the Shadow Communities Secretary, and Jamie Reed, the Shadow Health Minister, also swiftly said they would not serve under Mr Corbyn.

Ms Kendall, Tristram Hunt, the Shadow Education Secretary, and Chris Leslie, the Shadow Chancellor, had already indicated during the three-month leadership campaign that they would leave the front benches if the Islington North MP won.

But Chukka Umunna, the Shadow Business Secretary - a senior centrist who withdrew from the contest after a matter of days - issued a plea for the party to "come together" behind its new leader.

Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, urged high-profile figures to "get behind" Mr Corbyn, insisting that the "real enemy is the Tories".

Ed Miliband broke cover to offer Mr Corbyn his support "in what is a very difficult and demanding job and I hope that people across the party will do the same”.

But he made clear his support would come from the backbenches. The ex-leader added that he now hoped and expected his successor would “do everything he can to reach out and use the talents of people right across the party in the task of taking on the Tories and facing up to the very big challenges that we face”.

Earlier, Tom Watson, the West Bromwich East MP, was elected deputy leader, and is expected to play an important role in helping to build Labour’s new frontbench team and maintain party unity and discipline.

Ken Livingstone, Labour's former London Mayor, played down the significance of opposition to Mr Corbyn in the parliamentary party, saying: "Some will object a bit but the moment Jeremy starts to do well in the polls, those doubts will go.

"These are people who want to be in the next Labour government and they will not do anything to undermine Jeremy if they think he is going to be prime minister," he added.

Elsewhere, trade union leaders warmly welcomed Mr Corbyn’s victory.

Ken McCluskey, the Unite General Secretary, said: "Voters can now look at Labour and see, unquestionably, that it stands for fairness, justice, peace and strong communities."

Dave Prentice for Unison said: "Jeremy has ignited a spark of hope, a spark that had been dampened for decades. This is a chance to claim back the heart and the soul of the party and make it our Labour Party once more."

In contrast, Lord Soley, a former chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, said he feared victory for Mr Corbyn "may have handed the next election to the Tory party".

For the Conservatives, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said: "Labour are now a serious risk to our nation's security, our economy's security and your family's security.

"Whether it's weakening our defences, raising taxes on jobs and earnings, racking up more debt and welfare or driving up the cost of living by printing money - Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party will hurt working people.

"This is a very serious moment for our country - the Conservatives will continue to deliver stability, security and opportunity for working people," he added.