More Labour names rule themselves out of running to succeed Kezia Dugdale.

More Labour names are ruling themselves out of the running to succeed Kezia Dugdale as the next leader of the party in Scotland.

James Kelly, who is Labour's business manager at the Scottish Parliament, said he would "certainly not'' be lining up for the job. It comes after Alex Rowley, the interim leader of the party in Scotland following Ms Dugdale's shock departure, and Neil Findlay - who is Jeremy Corbyn's closest ally in Holyrood - have both already declared they would not be standing.

Ms Dugdale, who had campaigned against Mr Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership contest, stunned party members in Scotland when she announced on Tuesday night she was stepping down from the job with immediate effect.

She had been leader of Scottish Labour for two years, taking over from Jim Murphy after the disastrous 2015 general election campaign saw the party lose 40 of the 41 seats it held north of the border.

The two most likely candidates to take over from her are Holyrood health spokesman Anas Sarwar, who has previously been an MP and deputy leader of the Scottish party, and Richard Leonard, a former GMB trade union organiser who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016.

Mr Kelly stressed whoever succeeds Ms Dugdale would have to be a first minister in waiting.

Asked if he would be putting himself forward for the job he replied: "No, certainly not. I won't be a candidate.''

But despite Scottish Labour having had had three leaders quit since the 2014 independence referendum, he dismissed any suggestion that the position was a poisoned chalice.

He claimed Labour north of the border had enjoyed a surge in membership'' in recent months, but could not give any details of how many new recruits had joined.

Mr Kelly went on to call for Ms Dugdale's successor to be put in place promptly and quickly'', as he insisted there was now "a great opportunity for the party and the person who leads the party''.

He continued: "We polled 27% at the general election, there is a real opportunity to move us forward in the polls and to present ourselves as real competitors in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

"We've got a radical set of policies, opposed to austerity and for investment in public services, making a real difference, as opposed to the SNP who are only interest in posing for selfies rather than using the powers of this parliament.

"So I think there is a real opportunity for the party and the new leader.''

He described both Mr Sarwar, the son of former Labour MP Mohammad Sarwar, and Mr Leonard as "excellent parliamentarians'' but added: "I want to see what develops in terms of who declares as a candidate.

"We need to wait and see who declares as a candidate and then assess their qualities.'