With polls closing in the Scottish Labour leadership race on Wednesday, left challenger Neil Findlay has promised to “hit the ground running” if he tops the vote.

Mr Findlay pledged to put “clear red water” between Labour and the SNP, saying he would take the fight to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon over the NHS and inequality within days of the vote’s declaration on Saturday.

“I will hit the ground running and I will be there each week until May 2015 and then on to May 2016 taking that fight straight to them,” he wrote on the progressive Labour Hame website.

Mr Findlay said Labour has “a chance to offer hope to the many people who lost faith in it as the vehicle to represent their interests and to be the party of progressive change for the many, not the few.

“We must show that we have a vision of redistributing wealth and power, determination to build social housing to meet need and create employment, to tackle health and wealth inequality, to deal with the social care crisis, to make work more secure and to end youth unemployment.”

The Lothians MSP faces stiff competition from Blairite MP Jim Murphy and former Holyrood minister Sarah Boyack in the leadership race.

Left wing MP Katy Clark is challenging for the Scottish Labour deputy leader position against MSP Kezia Dugdale.