Kezia Dugdale elected leader of Scottish Labour Party

Kezia Dugdale has been elected as the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and Alex Rowley has been elected deputy leader.

Dugdale, who was only elected as deputy leader herself in December, becomes the eighth Scottish Labour leader since the position was created in 1999. She defeated Ken Macintosh in this election, receiving 72.1% of the vote.

The new leadership team face a big challenge, with a poll last week showing Scottish Labour polling just 20% – 42 percentage point behind the SNP.

While the race for leader had only two candidates, Alex Rowley overcame competition from Gordon Matheson and Richard Baker in the contest for deputy, which was decided on second preferences after Richard Baker was knocked out in the first round.

The full results were:

Leader

Kezia Dugdale – 72.1% of the total vote

Ken Macintosh – 27.9% of the total vote

Deputy Leader

Round 1

Richard Baker – 30.4% of the total vote

Gordon Matheson – 32.2% of the total vote

Alex Rowley – 37.4% of the total vote

Richard Baker was eliminated having received the least number of votes.

Round 2 after transferrals

Gordon Matheson – 44.5% of the total vote

Alex Rowley – 55.5% of the total vote

Reacting to the news, acting Labour leader Harriet Harman said:

“I would like to congratulate Kezia Dugdale on being elected as the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and Alex Rowley on being elected as Deputy Leader. 

“They will be leading the historic task of rebuilding our Party in Scotland, reconnecting Labour with the people of Scotland and re-energising the links between our party in Scotland, Wales and England. 

“And I know they will lead the party in Scotland forward with energy and commitment to Labour values and principles and will have the full support of the whole of the Labour Party.”

Jeremy Corbyn was the first of the UK Labour leadership candidates to react to the news, saying:

“I’d like to congratulate both Kezia Dugdale and Alex Rowley on being chosen to lead the Scottish Labour Party.

“Both Kezia and Alex clearly recognise that there’s a long road back for the party in Scotland, but I think they’re well equipped for the task in hand.

“If I am successful in becoming the leader of the Labour Party at a UK level I look forward to working closely with Kezia, and the rest of Scottish Labour, as we seek to reconnect everywhere for a better kind of politics.”