A SENIOR Liberal Democrat councillor has called on party leader Nicol Stephen to "raise his game" within the next 12 months or consider resigning.

Edinburgh councillor and education convener Marilyne MacLaren said her colleagues should ask some "very hard questions" about Stephen's leadership. She also said Tavish Scott, the LibDem MSP for Shetland, would be "one of the contenders" in the event of a vacancy.

MacLaren'sremarkscameinan interview with the Sunday Herald three months after the LibDems lost ground at the Holyrood election - coming fourth to the Tories - after what a senior partysourcedescribedasa"very underwhelming campaign".

The frustration felt towards Stephen among sections of the grassroots appears to be shared by MacLaren, who said: "I am saying that, after the election, we give Nicol time to regroup and to lead us forward. But if things have not improved by next summer, I really think we have to ask some very hard questions of the leader.

"He has to raise his game. That's the challenge. He can't coast along."

Part of Stephen's problem during the party's"disappointing" Holyrood campaign was his failure to make an impression with the electorate, MacLaren said.

"He has many good qualities. He's a family man and he's got very strong ideals, but none of this comes across," she said. "The person that you are, as a leader, matters. It's not just your politics."

However,shesaidStephen'slow profile was not all his fault: "It is the people around him as well, the people who planned the campaign. They need to look very carefully at their planning."

On a possible replacement, she said party chief whip Tavish Scott would be "one of the contenders", adding: "We have to see, if it does happen that we have a change of leadership, who puts their name forward."

However,aleadershipcontestis unlikely as Stephen recently got the backing of his Holyrood colleagues for another four-year term.

A spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats said: "Marilyne MacLaren is entitled to her view. However, there is no support for this within the party."