Breaking: Kezia Dugdale steps down as Scottish Labour leader

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5. Location matters.

A politician from a certain town, who represents that town in Parliament will inevitably have their political views shaped to a large degree by that place above all others.

This is a pretty basic point, but it matters a great deal. Jeremy Corbyn could not be the same politician if he represented Grimsby or Dundee. Same is even more true of Labour's main rivals in Scotland the SNP.

It's also why my local MP bangs on endlessly about being "a local boy" despite having previously being a pretty awful Tory councillor in Westminster. The local connection in politics cannot be underestimated.

And ultimately, political parties need not just to be alliances across a wide variety of views, but a wide variety of places. That means the central leadership of parties in London paying greater attention to places like Scotland.