THE VOTERS’ VERDICT
Voters in Dugdale’s political heartland give scathing verdict on her decision
Reality TV newcomer Kezia Dugdale faced her first public verdict yesterday – and she may want to look away now.
The Sunday Mail asked voters in the Labour MSP’s political heartland what they thought of the decision that has shocked Holyrood.
And Dugdale will be relieved that her jungle future isn’t being decided by people in the Edinburgh Eastern constituency, where she stood in last year’s Scottish Parliament election.
The 36-year-old former Scottish Labour leader was accused of destroying her credibility as a politician by appearing on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! instead of serving her constituents.
We visited Portobello, where Dugdale based her 2016 campaign, and where Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined her on the election trail.
At the time, they received rapturous applause from supporters as they held their arms aloft at an event in the town hall.
Yesterday there was a much cooler reception for Dugdale.
Edward Bryan, 43, from Duddingston, said: “I would think her political career is now destroyed. This will go down like a lead balloon with the party.
“People who go on this are out to make money and go on to earn celebrity status. I think she is looking for cash and to get out of politics.
“If you go as a leader, you should walk away as David Cameron did. I don’t think she’d be re- elected.”
Mairi Briggs, 57, of Ettrick, Selkirkshire, said: “I don’t think she should be doing this while she is a serving politician. It definitely affects her credibility.
“She should be serving her constituents.
“It’s good that she is donating her salary to charity, though.
“I’ll be watching just because she is on it. I haven’t watched it for years. It made me feel sick.”
Janet Smith, 61, from Portabello, said: “I don’t think she is doing the right thing.
“Anybody was goes on I’m A Celebrity loses all credibility. It is a load of rubbish. She should be here working for the people who elected her.
“She wouldn’t be doing this if she was still leader.
“Anyone who does this sort of thing is only in it for money and the fame.”
Tessa Pierce, 25, from Leith, described Dugdale’s decision as “irresponsible”.
She said: “Shouldn’t she be doing something better with her time, such as serving her constituents?”
But she added: “At least it makes her seem human.
“I am more likely to watch it now. It will be entertaining to see someone who’s supposed to be respectable doing really stupid things.” Dugdale hosted back- to- back constituency surgeries in a bid to avoid criticism over missing them while she is on the ITV show.
But Marc Young, 31, from Musselburgh, said: “I don’t think it’s right that she is just dropping everything and flying off for a couple of weeks.
“She should be here seeing to the needs of her constituents. Who will take her seriously after this?”
Graeme Briggs, 57, from Ettrick, said: “I don’t normally watch it but I will out of curiosity to see what she does. I think this is her exiting from politics.
“I wonder if she will join the SNP? Maybe she will appear on the Alex Salmond Show? I do wish her well, though.”
Dugdale was first elected as a Lothian MSP in 2011.
She became the leader of Scottish Labour after the party’s trouncing in the 2015 general election, in which they lost 40 of the 41 seats they had held north of the Border to the SNP.
When she launched her bid too take charge of the party, she met the Sunday Mail at ac afe inn Portobello, where she describedd it as a “five-year project”.
She said at the time: “Labour’s problems didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be fixed overnight either. I am in it for the long haul and there’s a lot that has to change.”
But in August, just over two years later, she stepped down suddenly, prompting a leadership contest between fellow MSPss Richard Leonard and Anas Sarwar.r.
Dugdale insisted she wass leaving the party in a much betterer state than she had found it but thathat a new leader was needed with “freshesh energy, drive and a new mandate”.te”.
On Thursday night, she wonn the Donald Dewar Debater of the Yearr award for her powerful speech condemningmning the Tories’ hated rape clause.
And in September, she won Politicia no li tic ian of the Year at the Icon Awards celebrating le bra ting diversity and LGBTQI communities. i ties.
But trying to be crowned Queenen of the Jungle could now spell the endnd of her Labour career.
Kezia Dugdale’s latest career choice will see her do battle with the wife of footballer Jamie Vardy over the chance to eat crocodile anus in the jungle for rewards.
She’ll face spartan conditions in a sparse campsite in the middle of nowhere trying to drown out the snores of Boris Johnson’s dad as she tries to catch a few hours nightly kip.
All in front of millions of viewers in an atmosphere which has broken the spirit of many who have tried before.
It says everything about Scottish Labour right now that one of its brightest stars finds the ITV jungle freakshow preferable to the day job at Holyrood. Of course the fee will help. Dugdale is witty, bright, caring and has the political X Factor – she appeals to voters. She’ll do well on I’m A Celeb.
As Scottish Labour leader she was let down and left feeling unsupported by colleagues, including her nowsuspended deputy Alex Rowley, as she struggled to make the best of an almost impossible task.
It won’t be lost on anyone in Scottish Labour that as Richard Leonard was elected leader yesterday, the person probably best suited to his new job was preparing to fly round the world at a second’s notice.
But the lingering charge that Dugdale lacks the bit of steel, resilience and moral fibre to be a serious political leader has just been doubly underlined in bold.
There’s a thin line between maverick and wayward.
The fact that the precedent for this kind of decision lies with George Galloway, Nadine Dorries and Tommy Sheridan really ought to give Dugdale major cause for concern.
Unless of course she’s done with politics in her heart and this is her idea of a farewell note.
Leonard lacks Dugdale’s charisma and common touch.
He did not, however, deserve the massive problem his predecessor dumped in his already overflowing in-tray yesterday.
Dugdale has many influential friends who will be prepared to ignore the disservice she has done to Leonard, her backbench colleagues, and, more importantly, the voters who put her in Holyrood and gave her a platform.
Unfortunately, Leonard has been left with no option but to take proper action against one of his most able party colleagues.
He prevaricated yesterday – fair enough on day one – but really he has no choice.
He will have to suspend Dugdale or withdraw the whip.
Having done so, Leonard can use it as a platform to restore internal party discipline which has been creaking recently.
He has a similar decision to take over whether James Kelly should remain as the party’s business manager.
Kelly may be saved by the claim that Dugdale asked him for permission to head to Oz and he turned her down. Then there’s Rowley. A favourite of Gordon Brown, he has enjoyed a decades-long career in the Labour Party in a number of senior roles – but his contribution to their fortunes is not exactly the stuff of legend.
He may find a way back into the fold following the investigation into claims he sent an ex-partner abusive texts – but if he doesn’t, it should not be seen as any great loss.
Leonard should jump at the chance to move on and see how fresher faces such as Daniel Johnson, Monica Lennon and Jenny Marra perform under a bit more pressure.
Now that the leadership race has reached its bitter end, Leonard must seek to heal the wounds inflicted during the contest.
Rather than a principled battle of ideology, the campaign started out as a series of revelations about Anas Sarwar’s family firm not being unionised and not paying the real living wage, and ended as a race to make the biggest spending pledges.
A call for unity after such a bad-tempered campaign – and giving the losing candidate a key shadow cabinet post – has to be the leader’s first priority.
But the first real test for Leonard will be his reaction to the UK Budget on Wednesday.
Will he able to provide a coherent, attractive alternative that encourages voters to take a closer look? If he doesn’t, his days may be numbered already.
It will be tempting for the new leader to try to ride on the coat tails of Jeremy Corbyn, but he also has to make sure that he is his own man and doesn’t return the party to the status of a “branch office”, to quote one of his predecessors Johann Lamont.
And at least if it all goes wrong...well, there’s always the jungle.