Kezia Dugdale wins Scottish Labour leadership

Scottish Labour’s new leader Kezia Dugdale will undertake her first engagement as head of the party when she campaigns in Edinburgh today.

The 33-year-old became the youngest ever leader of the party in Scotland, defeating Eastwood MSP Ken Macintosh for the vacant leadership on Saturday.

Murphy stepped down after his party lost all but one of their 41 seats to the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), including his own seat on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Ms Dugdale promised in her acceptance speech to work “night and day” to restore her party’s popularity in Scotland – and declared they were “down but not out”.

“I recognise, however, there are people in the Labour Party and there are people who desperately want to support and join the Labour Party that take a different view”.

Labour has just one MP in its former stronghold – having held 44 before the election.

She has pledged to focus her attention on winning next year’s Holyrood election, with all the polls indicating the SNP is on course for another landslide victory.

Ms Dugdale played down claims of any split with her new deputy Alex Rowley, who had called for a more autonomous Labour Party in Scotland.

Dugdale won the contest by an overwhelming margin taking 72.1 per cent of the vote, compared with the 27.9 per cent taken by Macintosh.

The results were revealed at the Stirling Court Hotel.

Next month will see the results of a UK leadership contest, which has confounded expectations with the left-winger Jeremy Corbyn emerging as the surprise favourite against Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall.

“I can tell you that under my leadership there will be no question over what we stand for, or who we stand with”.

“And I know they will lead the party in Scotland forward with energy and commitment to Labour values and principles and will have the full support of the whole of the Labour Party”.

“Because for too many people in Scotland their ability to get on in life isn’t determined by their talent, hard work and ambition, but by the circumstances they were born into”, she said.

“As we prepare for the return of parliament and the run up to the 2016 elections, the SNP will set out a bold programme for government that will build on our record of improvement in health, education, justice and the economy”.

She had previously stated that if he is successful then Labour would be left “carping on the sidelines”.