Kezia Dugdale has set out her plan for more party autonomy for the Scottish Labour Party.

Ms Dugdale has said that under her plan Scottish Labour should be responsible for decisions about the selection of candidates for all elections, including for UK General Elections and European Parliament elections, in addition to Scottish Parliament and local authority elections, the management of local Constituency Labour Parties, party membership, policy making.

There would be co-operation on staffing and finance. A process should be established involving the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the UK Labour Party and the Scottish Executive Committee (SEC) of the Scottish Labour Party to resolve the technical details.

Ms Dugdale will speak at the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party in the House of Commons on Monday, where she will encourage other parts of the UK Labour Party to make the case for more autonomy across the country.

Ms Dugdale said: "The key goal for my leadership is to renew the Scottish Labour Party, to show that we are changing. More autonomy for Scottish Labour is central to achieving that goal. 

"With these reforms there will be be no doubt that the main focus of Scottish Labour will be on Holyrood, where the key decisions affecting the daily lives of Scots are made. It won't be the Commons, the Lords or the European Parliament. They are important, of course, but the most important focus of Scottish Labour will be on using the powers at Holyrood to transform the lives of people in Scotland.

“The package of reforms that Scottish Labour agreed in the summer was important, but we must be bolder in seeking to transform our party to regain the trust of the people of Scotland. This will be a radical change in the way Scottish Labour operates.

“I am proud to be part of a UK-wide movement and believe that we can achieve more together than we ever could alone. As a socialist, standing together with friends, neighbours and colleagues across the UK to make our country better is a good thing.

“We have to recognise, though, that the UK is changing and so must the Labour Party. We should never shy away from being part of a UK-wide movement, but as the country becomes more devolved so too the Labour Party has to change with the times. I want the Scottish Labour Party to lead the way, and would encourage other parts of the UK Labour Party to set out their case for more autonomy.

“Too many people tell us they don’t know what we stand for or who we stand with. I knock on doors and hear people say the Scottish Labour Party doesn’t have a distinctive voice. Under my leadership that is changing. The Scottish Labour Party stands for closing the gap between the richest and the rest. We want to live in a country where the ability of a young person