Henry McLeish chose integrity as his theme

But Mr McConnell's team believes it had the better campaign - and thinks it can still win the contest.

The decision is now in the hands of the 81 party members, whose decision should be known on Saturday afternoon.

Mr McLeish chose "integrity" as his theme and has the experience of both Scotland and Westminster.

Mr McConnell earmarked social justice as his catchphrase - words used frequently in the tributes paid to Mr Dewar.

He also warned Westminster to keep out of the contest, saying he would not stand for "interference" in the election.

However, his campaign suffered a setback on Friday when ministerial colleague Frank McAveety switched his support to Mr McLeish.

Social justice was Jack McConnell 's catchphrase

That gave the enterprise minister the endorsement of the entire Scottish Executive.

Mr McLeish also chose the eve of the vote to issue a manifesto pledging changes to make the leadership more inclusive.

Measures announced included guaranteed apprenticeships for every school leaver and an endowment to rid Scotland of child poverty.

He also wants to make internal changes within the Labour group and has promised to give backbenchers an open door to the leadership.

Jack McConnell said he would offer more than stability - he would deliver for the whole of Scotland by tackling social equality and building a genuine partnership with the people of Scotland.

Drawn-out affair

Both candidates have agreed that there should be no re-run of the contest once the interim leader has been elected.

The sudden death of Mr Dewar threw up a unique situation for the Labour majority in the Scottish Parliament.

Labour's party leadership election is usually a long drawn-out affair, thanks to an electoral college procedure which involves MPs and MSPs, trades unions and ordinary party members.

However, the timescale had to be condensed because of the Scotland Act, under which a new first minister must be elected within 28 days of Mr Dewar's death.

Party officials decided to convene the meeting of the 27 voting members of the executive committee of the Scottish Labour Party and the 54-strong Scottish parliamentary Labour group to reach a decision more quickly.