Scottish Labour elects new leader
Former Scottish Labour Party leader Kezia Dugdale (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)
The Scottish Labour Party has elected a new leader.
The party was thrown into disarray after a near-wipeout during May’s elections for the UK Parliament – when the Scottish National Party claimed nearly all of Labour’s seats.
Former leader Jim Murphy quit as leader after just six months in the role, after losing his own seat – and the party toda selected his replacement.
Kedia Dugdale, who is Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Lothian Region, was elected by Scottish Labour members – winning 72.1% of the vote and beating out MSP Ken Macintosh.
Mr Macintosh received 27.9% of the vote.
In her acceptance speech, she said: “I have a message for Labour members, we are down, but we are not out.”
Ms Dugdale, 33, was a strong proponent of same-sex marriage in Scotland as it came through Holyrood – supporting the extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples.
She also voiced support for “allowing heterosexual couples rights to enter into civil partnerships should they wish” – though the government is yet to submit plans for this.
The new leader was also a signatory to one of the weirder Parliamentary motions back in 2012 – signing a motion in support of two fictional X-Men characters who were due to tie the knot in a same-sex ceremony.
