NOW the preaching is over and the lesson’s begun, Labour members in my own neck of the woods, Glasgow South, met in an exceedingly broad church in Cathcart last night.

Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont (pictured) was selected unopposed to take on Stuart McDonald of SNP at the next Westminster election. She won 73 votes to 18 in favour of re-opening nominations.

If you don’t remember Lamont, you may well recall that, on resigning in 2014, she suggested Scottish Labour was a “branch office” of  a London-based entity, which has been the insult of choice for “cybernats” slating every one of her successors.

I preferred the diagnosis of her then Holyrood colleague Hanzala Malik around the same time.

“The Scottish Labour Party is not an ice lolly,” he observed, “so we’re not melting anywhere.”

Lamont was questioned over Glasgow council’s continued failure to implement equal pay settlements for women workers. While agreeing it was a disgrace, Lamont defended the council’s previous Labour administration and said trade unions had failed to represent women workers.

Labour may need a little more self-reflection on its past if it is to unseat the affable McDonald, who led the platform at Glasgow May Day this year.