Labour's leadership wrangles will "have an impact" on next year's Scottish parliamentary elections, according to Scotland's first minister.

Jack McConnell also warned opposition parties hoping to exploit the Labour succession issue not to "abuse" devolution by distracting from Scottish issues.

In an interview with the Parliamentary Monitor magazine, McConnell said: "The debate about Tony Blair's future and the succession is going to have an impact on the Scottish parliamentary election.

"It could have a positive impact or it could have a negative impact for the Scottish Labour Party's prospects.

"There have been lots of changes in public opinion over the last 12 months, and there could be a lot more over the next 12."

The first minister said he was keen that the election be decided on local issues and not on who should lead the national party.

"I think the most important thing for the election is that it is fought in Scotland and fought on the decisions of the Scottish parliament," he said.

McConnell also warns his political opponents not to opportunistically use any problems in the national Labour Party.

"It would be a real abuse of devolution if any of the other parties tried to turn a Scottish parliamentary election, which is voting for people who make laws determining the direction of the country over the next few years, into a referendum or a single-issue election about that situation," he said.

"That would be a mistake. It's not what devolution was for and I genuinely hope we can have an election next year that is about the decisions of the Scottish parliament and the members elected there, and the choices they face."

With Alex Salmond now leading the SNP, McConnell was in no doubt about the important issues to be decided over the next 12 months.

"This is a very big election: it is a real turning point for Scotland," he told the magazine.

"Eight years into devolution, there is a chance to really build on the early successes and have another four years of real progress, or go back to the stale old arguments of the past, and have four years of dispute with the rest of the UK, with all the uncertainty and economic problems that would follow.

"It is a very big election with a big issue at the heart of it."