AS a politician, what would you look for if you were hiring an adviser?

In politics, you'd assume someone who has shown they can win multiple campaigns is essential.

It would seem Jess Phillips has her own criteria for selecting an adviser, because that certaintly isn't high on her priority list.

The Labour leadership candidate has hired none other than Blair McDougall, the campaign director of Better Together, to advise her on how the party can win back Scotland.

That's none other than the Blair McDougall who subsequently advised then-Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy on his 2015 General Election campaign. An election which saw Labour lose 40 of its 41 Scottish seats.

Maybe, as we've been pointing out for quite some time, working with the Tories to ensure Scotland voted No wasn't a great look for the traditionally "socialist" party?

Phillips has been very vocal of her opposition to Scottish independence in the last week, hitting out at the First Minister on Twitter and insisting she's "100% committed to the Union" before visiting Glasgow - a city with one of the highest numbers of Yes supporters across the country.

READ MORE: FM: Jess Phillips has Scots Labour voters 'running for the hills'

What is the goal here? With an estimated third of Labour supporters also supporting independence, it seems self-sabotaging to insist on 100% Unionism when you're trying to become the leader of that party.

Blair McDougall's guide to "winning Scotland":

1. Start off with a massive lead (20-30%)

2. Run the worst campaign possible that even your supporters slag off

3. Scrape a victory by getting Gordon Brown to come in and save you at the last minute — Doug Daniel (@DouglasDaniel) January 14, 2020

Doug Daniel had the perfect tweet. He wrote: "Blair McDougall's guide to 'winning Scotland': 1. Start off with a massive lead (20-30%) 2. Run the worst campaign possible that even your supporters slag off 3. Scrape a victory by getting Gordon Brown to come in and save you at the last minute."

Anyway. Best of luck ...