Scotland's last remaining Labour MP confirmed on Tuesday morning that he intends to stand for the deputy leadership while launching an attack on the left-wing of the Labour party, which he blames for the defeat in the December general election.
While announcing his bid for deputy leadership on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme, Edinburgh South's Ian Murray said Labour must "beat the odds" to win the next general election and doubled down on previous criticisms.
Hitting out against his party colleagues he said: "The architects of the party's catastrophic failure in 2019 cannot be allowed to be the architects of the response".
"The next leadership team must turn us into an election-winning machine that uses the skills and talents of all our members and supporters to succeed".
He boasted of his ability to win elections saying: "I know how to win by building broad coalitions of support".
"We must become a credible alternative government of the future, not a protest movement of the past", he added.
When asked if he was backing any particular candidate, Mr Murray told the programme: "I don't think it's right for the deputy leadership candidates to be backing a particular leader because the deputy will have to work with anyone that's put in place".
He expressed the need for Labour to find a "continuity candidate" who can bring "fresh ideas and a fresh approach".
"A new face and a new voice but the same direction is someone the party should be rejecting", he said.
The comments from Murray echo statements he made following Labour's disastrous election defeat on 12 December.
On the morning of the results, he used his own victory speech to attack Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters who he blames for delivering "the worst Conservative prime minister in history".
With Murray's announcement, six candidates for the position of deputy leader have now entered the race.
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, shadow equalities secretary Dawn Butler and shadow Europe minister Khalid Mahmood have also put their hat in the ring.
Six candidates have so far declared their intention to run for the top leadership position.
Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer is currently in the lead, according to YouGov polling. Others looking to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader include shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, and backbenchers Clive Lewis, Jess Phillips and Lisa Nandy.
The race will determine the direction of the new direction of the Labour Party post-Corbyn and post-Brexit, which is scheduled to take place by the end of January.
Murray's attacks on the left-wing of the party are indicative of the struggle for Labour's heart and soul. With candidates like Jess Phillips offering to reverse the direction taken in recent years, and Corbyn allies like Rebecca Long-Bailey proposing the continuation of the existing socialist line.
On Monday, the party's ruling National Executive Committee agreed that the results of the leadership and deputy leadership elections will be announced at a special conference on April 4.
