Malcolm Cunning and Eva Murray should make a trip to Millets their first leadership appointment, to get kitted out for new boots, as they have a mountain to climb.

Before Labour can think about taking on the SNP in the city it has to sort itself out and Frank McAveety has given it the time to so before it goes to the city in May 2022.

The new group leader made his first good decision, before he was elected to the post, in getting Eva Murray on board as his deputy.

Within the Labour group of councillors in recent years there has been noises, while not enough to stage a revolt, more than enough to be a warning the leadership was dominated by middle-aged men.

Malcolm Cunning has been around long enough to recognise an alarm bell.

At 63, white and approaching retirement age, he had to inject some balance, some diversity some semblance of being representative of the electorate.

On his own Malcolm Cunning would have been seen as a continuation of the Frank McAveety, Bill Butler, Archie Graham leadership.

It would be unfair to pin the failure to hold off the SNP on them alone but it was clear change was needed.

Mr Cunning has been astute enough to recognise the desire for change and if his election is able to heal a fracture that was threatening serious damage then he will hope to lead a more united, effective group.

Not only choosing to stand with the younger woman as his deputy but to declare he would stand aside before the 2027 election has been enough to win support of female group colleagues.

He now has the task of convincing more than 30 councillors he has what it takes to lead the city.

A glance at the results in council elections this century shows just how big the mountain and how far and how fast Labour has slipped down it.

Labour scooped 48% of the vote with more than 87,000 votes in 2003. The SNP were in the foothills looking up through their binoculars with 20% vote share and 37,500 votes.

In 2017 when Labour finally lost control of the City Chambers the SNP had taken 41% and more than 70,000 votes. Labour fell back to 30% and 52,000 votes.

If they are to take hope it can still be found somewhere in the same statistics above.

Labour still has a considerable vote in Glasgow and the potential to build it back up is there.

The conundrum, that Frank McAveety couldn’t crack in 2017 nor any Labour Scottish leader since 2014, is not just in getting its message out but persuading enough people its message is still relevant to them in a polarized political landscape.

Labour has undoubtedly lost voters both to the SNP on one end of the independence continuum and to the Conservatives on the other.

The new leader has stated he is opposed not only to independence but a second referendum so most of the SNP voters are safe from his clutches.

And I don’t see either Malcolm Cunning or Eva Murray leading the crowd at Last Night of the Proms in Rule Britannia.

They have to sing a new song and then get Glasgow to join in.

Otherwise they will be stuck at base camp.