THERE was little word about the whereabouts of Kezia Dugdale yesterday as the focus turned to who would replace her as Scottish Labour leader.
One insider suggested she may have gone on holiday shortly after giving interviews to the BBC and a tabloid newspaper announcing her resignation with immediate effect.
As the hunt began for the party’s fourth leader in less than three years discussions were taking place about why she suddenly decided to go.
Elaine Murray, a former Labour MSP and now a councillor in Dumfries, believes it would have been difficult for Dugdale to continue after recently announcing her relationship with Jenny Gilruth, the SNP MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes.
“I think Kezia’s decision to go had a lot to do with her personal situation,” Murray said.
“Being in a relationship with a SNP MSP puts her in a difficult position as Scottish Labour leader where she would be expected to attack her partner’s friends and colleagues.
“I would have thought that would put a strain on the relationship and be bound to give rise to a decision about whether her relationship or her political career was more important.
“If the relationship is going to make her happy maybe she was right to choose the relationship.”
Dugdale stepped down on Tuesday with immediate effect, saying her party needed “a new leader with fresh energy, drive and a new mandate” to take it into the next Holyrood elections in 2021.
Despite her differences with Jeremy Corbyn – against whom she campaigned in the 2016 Labour leadership contest – Dugdale denied suggestions that she had quit before being pushed out by the left wing.
And she insisted she left the party “in better shape than I found it”, after taking on the job in the wake of the 2015 General Election, which saw Labour lose all but one of its MPs in Scotland while the SNP enjoyed a landslide victory.
Dugdale, 36, is the third Scottish Labour leader to have resigned since the 2014 independence referendum, with predecessors Johann Lamont and Jim Murphy both having stood down, while Anas Sarwar and Iain Gray have also served as acting leader since the vote on Scotland’s future.
Corbyn paid tribute to Dugdale, saying: “I’d like to thank Kezia Dugdale for her work as Scottish Labour leader and the important role she has played in rebuilding the party in Scotland.
“Kezia became Scottish leader at one of the most difficult times in the history of the Scottish Labour Party, and the party’s revival is now fully under way, with six new MPs and many more to come.”
Labour managed to win back some of the seats it had lost to Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP in the June 2017 snap General Election, with the party now having seven MPs from Scotland.
With the constitution having defined Scottish politics in recent years, Dugdale has sought to give Labour a distinct position with the party now supporting a federal UK.
She also pressed Scottish ministers to use new powers over income tax north of the Border to raise extra revenue, calling for a return of the 50p top rate of tax for high earners and a 1p rise in the basic rate.
Dugdale announced she was quitting days after Corbyn finished a high-profile tour of Scotland, including an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe arts festival.
She had backed his opponent, Owen Smith, in the 2016 leadership contest, and voted for Yvette Cooper in the 2015 election which saw Corbyn take charge of the party. But since his re-election as leader she had publicly backed him, supporting his bid to become prime minister in June.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wished her well for the future, writing on Twitter: “We may be opponents, but @kezdugdale led her party with guts and determination and I admired her for that.”
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “Kezia deserves the thanks of her party for the tireless work she put in as leader of Scottish Labour.
“She was a tough and principled political opponent and, in challenging circumstances for her party, she showed huge determination and spirit.
“These last two years will be remembered as a time when all three of Scotland’s main political parties have been led by women, and all there on merit.”
Dugdale will continue as an MSP for the Lothian region, with deputy leader Alex Rowley set to take charge of the party in Scotland until her successor is found.
In her letter of resignation she referred to the death of Labour activist Gordon Aikman earlier this year, saying she had “lost a dear friend who taught me a lot about how to live”.
She continued: “His terminal illness forced him to identify what he really wanted from life, how to make the most of it and how to make a difference. He taught me how precious and short life was and never to waste a moment.”
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