Scottish Labour should split from the UK party in a bid to “set the agenda in Scotland”, according to a Fife MSP.
Cowdenbeath representative Alex Rowley said the organisation north of the border needs to speak “with its own distinctive voice” and take its own decisions to connect with voters again.
Mr Rowley also urged greater devolution than is offered in the Smith Commission so that more powers are shifted to the Scottish Parliament.
He said: “On employment, on job creation, on wages, on all aspects of Scottish life, our starting point must be that unless there is a good reason for these powers not to be in Scotland, then that is where they should be in our elected parliament, which is directly accountable to the people of our country.”
Calling for a “transformation” of Labour across the UK, the former Fife Council leader added: “Labour in Scotland should build a new partnership and work with its sister party in the rest of the UK, where it is appropriate, and where it is in the interests of the people of Scotland to do so.
“It must have the autonomy and power to set the agenda in Scotland, building and setting out a policy platform and direction which embodies the values and aspirations of the people of Scotland.
“The clear message in the referendum, whether people voted Yes or No, was a demand for change.”
Mr Rowley, a close ally of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said Scottish Labour needed to become “an autonomous political party in its own right … free from the constraints of a UK party that understandably has other priorities”, in order to renew itself.
However, his preferred leadership contender, Kezia Dugdale, said she did not think a full split would be “right”.
Mr Rowley’s statement came as Tony Blair’s former top spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, said Labour members had to understand the party’s current predicament “may not be the bottom”.
He added: “I think we are in big trouble (in Scotland) and I think we are in big trouble in the UK which is why it’s very important, this leadership election.”
Meanwhile, another Scottish Labour leadership candidate, Ken Macintosh, called for councillors to have more say as part of a package of radical reforms and said the party’s next deputy leader should come from local government.