In my last piece, I highlighted the necessity for Scottish Labour to generate substantial and inspirational ideas in the run-up to next year’s Scottish Parliament elections, rather than relying on the poor performance of the SNP Government to carry us through.

There are two distinct issues here: winning the election and governing.

To win an election, it’s necessary to achieve a balance of pointing out the shortcomings of the other parties, not too much of a challenge in this case, and presenting a clear and digestible message to the electorate of what your party will do if elected.

The people you need to present that message to are the voters, and the message needs to reflect their priorities and concerns, yet, somewhat inconveniently, the proportion of the population who perhaps should be the main focus of public policy, are much less likely to vote.

Everyone’s favourite fictional US President, Jed Bartlet, said that decisions are made by those who show up, and yet, the chicken and egg of people who feel marginalised by society not turning out to exercise their vote, whilst political parties make a practical decision to target their message at the people most likely to turn out is an endemic problem in our democracy.

With this caveat, that not all things that we should do are necessarily going to be vote winners, a few areas for consideration spring to mind.

The Scottish Labour Party are already using their policy forum system to raise and examine certain ideas: the Living Wage; a commitment to the right to an apprenticeship for every suitably qualified 16-18 year old; extending breakfast clubs; the same community duties for Scottish Enterprise as those undertaken by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The latest policy consultation document also considers whether first time buyers should be offered government support. This is a tricky one. The reason it’s so hard for first time buyers is due to the current cost of property as a proportion of income and supporting first time buyers to get into that market does nothing to solve that underlying problem. A substantial and sustained fall in house prices would, in the long run, be of benefit to society, with larger disposable incomes and families able to make choices that suit them and their children as to whether to stay at home. On the other hand, for the construction industry, and those stuck in too small homes they can’t sell as the price wouldn’t cover the mortgage, it would be incredibly difficult.

Perhaps, therefore, rather than supporting first time buyers, we should be looking at how to support those trapped in negative equity and how to bring property prices into line with most people’s reality.

On the subject of childcare, is early years wraparound care where we want to be targeting provision, or should we be looking to improve school holiday childcare provision?

In the latest policy consultation, there’s a section on remote communities. In this context, this refers to rural communities, however, having travelled to, from and around most of Glasgow’s communities in a previous job, scanty public transport and exorbitant food costs appear to be as reliant on ones economic as geographic locality. An extension of Charlie Gordon’s private members bill on bus regulation, and a serious consideration of the benefits of wide-spread network of fruit and veg co-ops could bring huge health and economic benefits for people in those communities.

At present, those same inequalities based on locality are present in our education system. Could a system of four year comprehensive secondary schools in our urban areas, followed by either college or an apprenticeship for all, reduce these? A move on to college would benefit those who intend to apply for University as it would act as a stepping stone, gradually introducing increased independence and enabling students to choose from a wider range of courses. It could also help to reduce the perception of vocational education as somehow ‘second class’ and improve the status of colleges.

These ideas are only the start. Having been in opposition for the past term offers us the opportunity to introduce new and radical ideas at the forthcoming election. We need to make the most of it.