Turbulent years at Holyrood helm

Ms Dugdale, who turned 36 on Monday, took over as leader of the Scottish Labour Party in August 2015 with 72.1% of the vote against sole rival Ken Macintosh.

This followed a disastrous general election that May, which saw the SNP win 56 of 59 Westminster seats, leaving Labour with just one.

The Lothian region MSP had been deputy leader for a year and was championed as a strong figure for a party substantially weakened by the polarising influence of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.

Labour joined the Tories and the Lib Dems to campaign against independence, which resulted in a No vote.

In 2015, then-leader Jim Murphy resigned after losing his seat and narrowly survived a vote of no confidence.

His predecessor, Johann Lamont, had exited the previous October — while saying the Scottish party was being treated like a “branch office” of Westminster.

Soon after her election, Ms Dugdale vowed to create greater autonomy for Scottish Labour, even as national leader Jeremy Corbyn planned to create a “federal” party.

She was criticised by some among the party following reports she would not stop MPs and MSPs campaigning for Scottish independence if there was another referendum.

In 2016, Labour were overtaken by the Scottish Conservatives as the official opposition in the Scottish Parliament.

Picture: SWNS. There have been some stormy times for Kezia Dugdale.

Picture: SWNS. Kezia celebrates the win in Edinburgh South for Scottish Labour candidate Ian Murray earlier this year.