As he heads to his party’s annual conference in Liverpool, Michael Marra is entitled to feel mildly content with his first week as Scottish Labour leader.

Only mildly. Firstly, that matches his demeanour of restrained focus. And, secondly, there are huge obstacles ahead, not least for his Prime Ministerial colleague.

Mr Marra knows that people in Scotland are potential Labour voters. As a historian, he knows the story of past near dominance. And, of course, there is the 2024 UK General Election as ready evidence.

But he also knows that voters cast Labour aside in this May’s Holyrood poll. And that they need action on two fronts. Support on the cost of living, backed up by clear signs that Scottish Labour is on Scotland’s side.

I was struck by Mr Marra’s notably moderate and consensual tone during questions to the First Minister. That is partly because the topic was Scotland’s appalling drugs death record. Soaring rhetoric scarcely sits easily with tragic fatalities.

But Mr Marra went further. Yes, he was sharply critical of ministers, accusing them of sounding complacent in their initial response to “indefensible” statistics. However, he could have broadened that into a uniform, familiar lament about the SNP.

He did not. Rather he suggested that Scotland’s entire approach to drugs demanded reform. And, crucially, he offered to co-operate in that endeavour. John Swinney seized the offer with alacrity.

Earlier in the parliamentary week, I was also struck by the deftness with which Mr Marra sidestepped a political trap laid by the First Minister.

Mr Swinney’s motion invited MSPs to agree that “Scotland is a nation that has a........

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