Kezia’s jungle trip was a surprise

The start of Mr Leonard’s tenure as Labour leader got off to an unexpected start – when news broke that his predecessor Kezia Dugdale was to join the line-up of reality TV show I’m A Celebrity.

He recalled:“I didn’t expect that, I have to say.

“I was quite relaxed about it but what was interesting was that there was an immediate rush of people calling for me to expel or suspend her, when in the end it was a decision made by the Labour group in Holyrood.

“One of the things I’ve come to terms with, which I didn’t necessarily expect, was the force of pressure on me as a leader to intervene in all kinds of situations like that.

“I’ve had to deal with more internal management issues, so there are those kinds of things – but mainly it’s been what I expected, with quite a lot of pressure and demands on my time, but I knew that anyway.”

Mr Leonard combines his position at the helm of the party with his post as a list MSP – a role that remains vitally important to him.

He continued:“It’s a priority for me to make sure I’m available across Central Scotland – part of your role is to take up individual cases and try to get a resolution for people, but also about joining up those examples and seeing whether they’re part of a pattern that needs addressed through legislation or action by government.

“That casework is valuable because it informs my political outlook, priorities, demands which I make on government and it informs the formulation of the Labour party’s policy programme and kind of changes we want to see.”