Dugdale’s top Holyrood job under fire from MSPS

● Both Deputy POS attack move ● Jungle stint faces fresh criticism

Both of Holyrood’s Deputy Presiding Officers have hit out at Kezia Dugdale’s appointment to the Parliament’s key management body.

Speaking in a personal capacity, Linda Fabiani and Christine Grahame have voiced concerns about Ms Dugdale’s appointment to Holyrood’s Corporate Body following the row over her appearance on the reality TV show I’m a Celebrity...get Me Out of Here.

Ms Dugdale was voted on to the body, which helps manage the Parliament’s £89 million annual budget, on Tuesday, but both senior Nationalists abstained on the vote.

“We did not think it appropriate that, given Ms Dugdale abandoned her Parliamentary duties for I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, she should then be our representative on the Parliament’s Corporate Body,” Ms Grahame and Ms Fabiani said in a joint statement, released in personal capacity and not in relation to their role as Deputy Presiding Officers.

Another Nationalist MSP, Rona Mackay, also abstained in the vote which saw Ms Dugdale supported by 106 of Holyrood’s 128 MSPS who have a vote.

Ms Dugdale’s appointment was part of a drive to get more women on the corporate body.

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “Having been successfully elected to the Scottish Parliament Corporate

0 Kezia Dugdale’s return to Holyrood has not been without controversy Body by MSPS, Kezia Dugdale will fight for gender equality, transparency and polices that tackle the problem of sexual harassment in the Scottish Parliament.”

The Lothians MSP is expected to be paid tens of thousands of pounds for her three weekstint in the jungle towards the end of last year. She has said that she will donate some of it to charity, but has not indicated how much. She also pledged to donate her MSPS’ salary while she was away.

Some of her most trenchant critics came from her own Labour colleagues. Neil Findlay, who chairs Holyrood’s health committee, described the decision as “ludicrous”, while the party’s public audit committee convenor Jenny Marra branded the move a “shortcut to celebrity”.

Ms Dugdale had not cleared her appearance on the programme with party chiefs. She received a formal written warning from new party leader Richard Leonard after returning home in December, but escaped a suspension.

The MSP was the second contestant voted off the ITV show, which was won by Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo. She pledged to use her stint to promote Labour values.