JEREMY Corbyn appeared to be in an upbeat mood ahead of his speech to the Scottish Labour party conference today. In an interview with The Herald, he said he was confident his party could revive in Scotland and that SNP switchers could be convinced to vote Labour again. His message was: Yes, we can.

But can he? There will be some in Scotland who will dismiss his confidence as the delusion of an old-school Labour leader who does not fully understand the altered political landscape in Scotland - and it is certainly true that the SNP is still some 30 points ahead of Labour in the polls. If it ever happens again in Scotland, victory for Labour is still a long way off.

However, there is no doubt that Scottish Labour is in a better place than it was six months ago – indeed, it appears to be faring better than its big brother down south. The Corbynmania effect which boosted membership of the party also worked in Scotland, with thousands of people or renewing their membership or joining Labour for the first time.

Scottish Labour is also showing signs of genuinely moving on from the leadership of Ed Miliband and Jim Murphy - and it is moving in a direction that could serve it well in Scotland. In his speech today, Mr Corbyn will criticise the record of the SNP and say that if Scottish voters want socialist change and a left-wing alternative, then they should vote for Labour. When Mr Miliband was dithering over whether or not to support the bedroom tax, that would have been a hard claim to make of Labour, but Mr Corbyn has real socialist credentials and promoting them could make it harder for the SNP to make its contested claim that it is standard bearer of the left.

In promoting a new structure for their party, Mr Corbyn and the new Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale also appear to have recognised that devolution necessarily dictates a new, more independent Scottish party. There is still a chance that Labour will go back to its old centrist ways, but Ms Dugdale has already laid out plans for Scottish Labour to become responsible for pretty much all the most important decisions, including the selection of all parliamentary candidates, including for general elections, and policy making.

In his interview with The Herald, Mr Corbyn says these changes are necessary, and that he wants to be the opposite of a top-down leader. What this means in practice is that this week's conference will be a much less controlled and slick affair than it was in the days of Blair, and Ms Dugdale has said she wants to be a genuinely policy-making forum.

However, party debate cannot go on forever and there will come a time when Mr Corbyn, Ms Dugdale and the rest of the party will have to present a coherent and popular message. With the Tories' confidence revived at Westminster and the SNP 30 points ahead in Scotland, politics is crying out for a strong and effective opposition. Mr Corbyn's speech is the first step in proving that Labour can provide it.