Read Robbie Dinwoodie's latest blog answering his critics here
Rival parties are preparing to leave Labour isolated at Holyrood this week as MSPs debate the Gould report on last May's election fiasco.
The fact that the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens all support the key recommendation - that Holyrood should take responsibility for running elections north of the border from Westminster - will make for a difficult return to action for Wendy Alexander as she awaits her fate in the Electoral Commission inquiry into donations.
A debate is due on Thursday. An aide to First Minister Alex Salmond said: "We expect the debate to focus on the need to transfer responsibility for running the Scottish Parliament elections from Westminster to Holyrood, to ensure their future smooth operation.
"Given that this was the first recommendation of the Gould Report, we believe that it should be possible to achieve parliamentary support for this common-sense reform."
The SNP has laid emphasis on the key conclusion of the report, which recommended that "exploratory discussions take place with a view toward assigning responsibility for both elections" - to the Scottish Parliament and for local government - "to one jurisdictional entity". The report added: "In our view, the Scottish Government would be the logical institution."
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "We support the transfer of responsibility for the conduct of the Holyrood elections to the Scottish Government, in line with recommendations made in the Gould Report."
While the LibDems and Greens will also back that view, Labour is urging caution.
Shadow secretary for public services Andy Kerr stressed: "We are happy to consider all of the recommendations made by Mr Gould but we should allow the parliament and its committees to examine the matter fully and make subsequent recommendations. Indeed, the local government committee is taking evidence and will report soon.
"Mr Gould identified that some of the problems arose by having the STV (single transferable vote) local government elections on the same day as the Scottish parliamentary elections. Scottish Labour believes that one of the solutions is to ensure that council elections are on a different cycle but we will consider the consultation undertaken by the Scotland Office carefully."
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