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JOHANN Lamont last night dismissed rumours of a Scottish Labour leadership battle and insists she wants to be First Minister after the 2016 election.

She made the bold claim during an interview with the Record a week after a No vote in the independence referendum.

Her hopes of leading the Scottish Parliament come despite the party failing to convince people in former Labour heartlands of Glasgow and Dundee to back the Better Together campaign.

Even Lamont’s Pollok constituents voted in favour of independence. And she faces a challenge to impress while support surges for the SNP.

While SNP membership has rocketed from 24,000 to more than 65,000, Labour are struggling to get beyond around 13,000 – despite being on the winning side.

Asked if she is committed to the job, Lamont said: “I have thought about it because this would be a natural time.

“It’s almost like a natural pause in my leadership to say, first job is to steady the ship, get the party competing again, get the party having some confidence in itself.

“The next phase is to 2016, and yes I want to be First Minister because I believe I have the life experience and I’ve got a commitment to change. I’m excited by the fact that having got past the referendum, that debate is so alive and so current.

“I desperately want to prevent this being a debate that entrenches Yes and No.”

But any hopes of big ticket announcements will have to wait.

Asked what now makes Labour stand out, she said the immediate fight will focus on the NHS, funding for local government and trying to create a fairer society.

She offered to work with Nicola Sturgeon – who looks certain to take over from Alex Salmond as First Minister – and called for all sides to move on from the

referendum fallout.

Lamont said: “If the big pitch from the SNP was around social and economic change then there are things we can do right now together. I’m very clear I want the opportunity to shape these big decisions and that’s what 2016 is all about.”

She praised Sturgeon’s political determination but added: “She will have a competition in 2016 and I think I bring things which will be about the need for creating change and creating a politics in tune with people who voted No or Yes.

“I wouldn’t stand against her if I didn’t think I’d beat her.”

Lamont is relishing the fight between three female party leaders. She added: “I’m looking forward to the fact we’ll have a woman as First Minister, more so because in 2016 people will be able to choose between two – and Ruth Davidson, if there’s a seismic change in Scottish politics.”

She rejected the persistent rumours of a leadership challenge, with names like MP Jim Murphy regularly cropping up. Lamont said: “I’ve spoken to Jim and he doesn’t know why it’s happening either. He was very supportive.”

Lamont dismissed suggestions the party suffered for siding with the Tories in arguing for Scotland to stay in the UK. She said: “I don’t agree with the Tories on most things. I did agree that Scotland should stay in the UK.”

She also insisted the party can reach out to people who voted Yes. Estimates suggest more than one-third of Labour voters backed independence.

Lamont said: “A lot of people voted No out of hope because they believed they could create a fairer society across the UK.

“At least some people on the Yes side voted out of despair because they thought it couldn’t get any worse. We need to find a way of reaching out to Yes voters who are genuinely interested, who are concerned about the world they’re living in, to work together.

“The SNP don’t seem to have reached the point where they can move on and accept defeat.”

With that in mind, the party are planning to move further away from UK Labour, although the details are yet to be set out. That work – and a drive to recruit new members and activists – will happen when Holyrood gets down to securing more devolved powers.

Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown said there must be a modern form of “home rule” in return for a No vote last week.

Lamont said she understood the term to mean the “best of both worlds”. She said: “You devolve what you can without breaking the benefits of the United Kingdom.

“The fundamental benefit is the pooling and sharing of resources. That’s my test.”

Above all, she wants Scotland to come back together. Lamont said: “I think my biggest prize would be to try to persuade Nicola Sturgeon, if she’s First Minister, that there are some things where we can lay down arms and work together.

“There has to be a period of healing now.”