Letter: Labour suspicions

After a shaky start, he did manage to give some stability to Scottish government, still reeling after the loss of two first ministers in just over a year. His five-and-a-half-year period in office did see some real reforms on housing, land, anti-social behaviour and voting reform come to fruition. He did confront a real conservatism in the Labour movement by introducing the smoking ban. It still remains one of the most important health measures since the Second World War. It is easy to exaggerate what he achieved in terms of promoting Scotland on the world stage, but he can't be criticised for at least trying to get young people and public bodies to look outward.

He was definitely a match in election terms for former SNP leader John Swinney. But he failed to capture the public imagination in the way that Alex Salmond did after becoming the Nationalists' leader again in 2004.

McConnell often gave the impression that he was satisfied with the existing devolution settlement. The lingering suspicion among voters that in the final analysis he would dance to the tune of London Labour headquarters never left him. He may have tried to strike the right balance between old and new Labour. That couldn't thwart the mood for change in 2007, really a choice about who was best placed to take Scotland forward. It was not just Salmond's personal qualities that gave him the edge in the election tussle of that year, it was also that after eight years in power Labour had atrophied. McConnell failed to provide the vision to take it forward.

BOB TAYLOR

Shiel Court

Glenrothes, Fife