A point to prove - Andy Kerr interview

SCOTTISH LABOUR LEADERSHIP

THE EDDIE BARNES INTERVIEWS

1. ANDY KERR

WHEN Wendy Alexander resigned her job at the end of June, and thoughts turned to who might replace her as Labour's leader at the Scottish Parliament, Andy Kerr's name appeared immediately on the list. And yet the man himself fell silent. As the jostling for position began, it wasn't just journalists whose messages didn't get returned; even close allies who were awaiting his rallying call say they didn't know what was going on. Kerr went on holiday, mulling over whether he should take it on.

Few could blame him. Following Alexander's nosedive, and with the SNP Government riding high, the job of leading Labour at Holyrood had all the look of a suicide mission. Then there was talk within Labour circles that Kerr was suspicious that the current vacancy was being lined up as a caretaker role, to be handed on to a "white knight" if Labour were – as most expect – to lose the 2011 Scottish election.

Allies, meanwhile, spread around the fact that Kerr was unhappy about the prospect of spending more time away from his wife Susan and their three daughters, who live in Strathaven, Lanarkskire. Colleagues from his time as a staffer at Glasgow City Council say they always remember Kerr as a seriously devoted family man who would leave work early in order to "do his share" of childcare. "He really takes the whole hands-on-dad thing seriously," said one MSP colleague. Either way, it was touch and go.

The way Kerr tells it, it was the shock of Labour's Glasgow East by-election defeat two weeks ago that was, in his words, "the clincher". "You don't like seeing your party in that situation. It was a body blow for all of us and that acts as a motivator," he said last week, supping tea in a bar in Glasgow. "I knew this is a life changing job for my family and myself and I had to be sure that all the bases were sorted out."

Kerr raised eyebrows by then putting his wife and children in the front row when he held a press conference to launch his campaign two weeks ago. "To have your wife at your launch is not an unusual thing to do," he retorts. "There were key stages in making the decision (to stand] and that (squaring it with family life] was the first key stage. Once it was made we took it from there."

Kerr is wearing New Labour smart, his wary eyes hiding behind a pair of trendy glasses. The bookies' favourite to win the leadership contest has the demeanour of somebody who sees a booby trap lurking around every corner, as if worried he is about to be caught out.

His career thus far does not suggest he is a natural front-man. His first taste of politics was as an aide to the then Glasgow City Council leader Frank McAveety (who, in a reversal of roles, is now part of his campaign team). He then came to prominence as an MSP as a key ally of Jack McConnell ("He hates nothing more than people saying he's another Jack," says one well-connected figure). When asked at his press launch what qualities he had to take on Alex Salmond, he declined to offer any. It hinted that he finds the business of promoting himself a little awkward. Friends admit he comes across as prickly in public, a sign of his defensiveness. Kerr is said to have acknowledged the need for him to show a bit more sunshine. Yet despite the negatives, one thing is clear: it is Kerr, and not his two rivals for the job, Iain Gray and Cathy Jamieson, who has so far made the running.

To outsiders, his suggestion that the leader of the Labour's Holyrood group should, in his words, have a more "beefed-up" status may have seemed relatively tame stuff. But within this febrile party, the move has prompted a fierce internal debate. Currently, the vacancy is simply for the leader of the party's Holyrood group. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party is Gordon Brown. Publicly, Kerr is not talking about changing the party's ground rules, but there is little doubt that he wants Brown's title in all but name. UK rail minister Tom Harris declared last week that Kerr's changes would end up "undermining the very institution (the Scottish Parliament] that we, the Labour Party, created in 1999". Kerr has brought the bitter turf war which has been brewing within Labour for years out into the open.

So why does the job need changing? "The challenge we face in Scotland is different to the challenge in the rest of the UK," Kerr replies. "The politics of Scotland are different to the rest of the UK, devolution has changed forever the face of Scottish politics – we need that strong Scottish voice so people understand that Labour in Scotland is advocating for them their values and how they see their future and their country."

He goes on: "We need to understand this new climate we work in. I still strongly believe that we are the natural party for Scotland; we have just lost our way, disconnected with people. They have not seen us advocating for themselves, their families and their country."

So what was McConnell unable to do when he was in charge that he could have done if his title was 'beefed up'? "Well, let's see what we did do," Kerr replies. "We ran a completely different health service than the rest of the UK; we were first in the smoking ban because we wanted to do that. It's not as if we're hog-tied (to UK Labour] in everything we do."

So why bother changing then? "I said in everything we do," Kerr replies. "In terms of the – what's the right phraseology? – the decision-making process we need to develop more of our own way of doing things in Scotland because the voters in Kent and Kilmarnock are different. The voters north and south in terms of Labour values are different. We need to reflect that." It is a remarkable statement in a way; a casual dismissal of the notion that the values of a political party such as Labour can be shared across a border.

The change is about control, he says. In an election campaign, for example, Kerr does not mince his words. "The political sign-off and the control of that campaign should rest with those closest to the issues," he says – this after his allies complained that the Glasgow East by-election campaign had been botched by the UK party officials who failed, they say, to comprehend the local situation.

I ask whether his personal experience as a minister firmed up his view of this. There are the rumours of furious phone calls which Kerr had to take from John Reid when he was putting forward a smoking ban. It would surely have been nice just to tell Reid to get lost. "John Reid said nothing to me directly about the smoking ban. I knew his views because I heard them," insists Kerr. He adds: "We are taking on a very interesting challenge in Mr Salmond and the person who does that has to have the political skills, the wherewithal, the policy and the ideas and the vision to do that and I believe that is delivered by enhancing the role of the Scottish leader."

Kerr would clearly prefer to talk less about his planned changes to the party, perhaps aware that it could be dangerous to his prospects to be seen as a divisive candidate, and more about his record in the job that made his name – his spell as health minister. Not only did he carry through the smoking ban, he also put forward a radical reshaping of the NHS. In parts of the country where the plan meant major closures, such as in Ayr and Lanarkshire, it made him deeply unpopular. He has no regrets.

"Every night I went to bed knowing I had made the right decision," he says. "Ministers and politicians are there to weigh up the evidence and look at what is best and I still strongly believe I will be proven to be correct around the need to decentralise emergency care, but also to specialise."

Kerr backed moves to shift the focus on to preventative care: stopping people getting ill in the first place. There were cost reasons for it too: health economists warn that the NHS simply can't afford to use ever more expensive treatments on an ever-ageing population. Kerr's warning is stark: "The danger is that the NHS doesn't survive. The danger is that people lose confidence in the NHS because the services that they expect cannot be delivered."

But while some SNP people say they would least like Kerr to win, it is unlikely Salmond is unduly concerned about any of his potential rivals. How on earth does someone like Kerr take on Salmond? "I am in no doubt that it is an extremely difficult job to do," he admits. "What I would say is, remember where Cameron was and is now; where Brown was and is now. These situations can be reversed. Brown can reverse it, Cameron can go down, and Salmond can go down as well. And I intend to make sure that Salmond goes down."

Kerr in quotes

"When Alex Salmond tries to tell people that he's somehow more Scottish than us, than me, I will tell him I am every bit as Scottish as he is and every bit as proud. He may claim to stand up for Scotland but he stands for an agenda that would send Scotland backwards."

Andy Kerr on himself

"Andy Hairmyres."

Alex Salmond, referring to the fact that Kerr backed the much-criticised PFI funding of Hairmyres hospital

"Another bantamweight turned super-heavy."

George Galloway

"Makes acceptable soundbites but whose record in office reflects lack of commitment to Labour ideals."

Labour Party stalwart Jim Dempsey

"It was brave of Andy Kerr to take such a step. The ban will save thousands of lives.

Tony Blair on the smoking ban, imposed when Kerr was Health Minister