Scottish Labour became a case study in political failure after losing power to the SNP in 2007.
The party lost its footing before slumping to humiliation and irrelevance.
They ended up with one MP, third place at Holyrood and fifth place at the last European election.
Commentators wondered if the Greens could overtake them in the Scottish Parliament. Labour had become a joke.
The turnaround on leader Anas Sarwar’s watch is unarguable.
Labour regained second place from the Tories at last year’s local government election and is polling at around 30 per cent.
The resignation of Nicola Sturgeon means Labour now have an opportunity to eat into the SNP’s huge base and dislodge the Nationalists.
Despite Labour regularly blasting Sturgeon’s record in office, Sarwar knew she was her party’s best asset.
He knew she provided comfort to Scots during the pandemic and was seen as a reassuring presence compared to Boris Johnson.
She appealed to former Labour supporters in a way it is hard to see any of her potential successors doing.
Labour cannot believe their luck and view her departure as helpful to Keir Starmer entering Downing Street and Sarwar living in Bute House.
With Sturgeon gone, the Tories cannot weaponise the false idea of her controlling a weak Starmer in Number 10.
Voters respond to politicians with a big profile and Sarwar will have an advantage over whoever he faces at the next Holyrood election.
In his speech, he made a “direct appeal” to people who had voted SNP in the past.
“We recognise your desire to get rid of the Tories,” he said. “We share it. We know you dream of a brighter future. It’s a dream we share.”
He was unashamedly trying to poach the voters the SNP had wooed over the last seventeen years.
But a range of challenges remain for Sarwar and his deputy Jackie Baillie.
The team he has shadowing the Government does not look like a Cabinet in waiting and he must be ruthless in ensuring fresh blood is elected next time.
Some voters still do not know what, or who, Labour stands for and a sharper policy offering is required.
And the instinctive Nat-bashing that is the reflex of some colleagues is counterproductive when trying to win over soft SNP voters.
Sarwar has made substantial progress, but needs to find an extra gear to become First Minister.
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