The Scottish Labour leader has blamed a year of infighting within the UK Labour party for its defeat in the Copeland by-election on Thursday that saw it lose the seat to the Conservatives after holding it for 82 years.
Speaking at an event on the first day of the Scottish Labour conference on Friday afternoon, Kezia Dugdale said she was worried that the UK party had failed to win over Copeland voters, but refused to directly blame leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Dugdale insisted that everyone in the party has to take take "collective responsibility" for the humbling defeat, but added that the leadership has to think "long and hard" about how to make Corbyn a plausible prime minister.
Asked by BuzzFeed News if, as leader, Corbyn should take responsibility for the defeat, Dugdale said: "The Labour party is a collective … and we are all collectively responsible for that, but I said earlier today that divided parties don’t win elections.
"There’s undoubtedly a reality, which is a party that’s been fighting itself for a year and has been seen doing just that in the eyes of the public. [The party] has to do a lot more to make it look like the united force it needs to be to look like an alternative government."
Earlier in the day, Corbyn refused to accept the suggestion that he was personally responsible for the Copeland defeat.
Pressed again on whether Corbyn should take more responsibility for the defeat – as has been suggested by anti-Corbyn Labour MPs – Dugdale said she was becoming concerned about Labour's electability across the UK.
"I recognise it’s a collective failing on behalf of the party to win the support and the trust of people in the North East of England," Dugdale told an audience of journalists and Scottish Labour delegates.
"Am I worried about that? Of course I am, because I want to see a Labour prime minister and a UK Labour government. It’s what I came into politics to strive for – I joined the Labour party in 2003 because there was a Labour government which was transforming the life chances of people throughout this country."
She added: "I want them to do that again and I want Theresa May very firmly out of office. There’s a lot of long and hard thinking that needs to be done but it has to be done by more than one person."
Dugdale also said she doesn't believe another Scottish independence referendum will happen, but said that if it does, it would be a "huge mistake" to choose Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson to lead it.
Dugdale also ruled out another Better Together campaign, saying: "In this referendum – that's not going to happen – you can draw some lessons from the EU referendum and try to have a non-political voice at the forefront."
Corbyn is due to address the Scottish Labour conference on Sunday.