Richard Leonard has been elected leader of the Scottish Labour party.
Mr Leonard beat party rival Anas Sarwar MSP to the post which was triggered following the resignation of former leader Kezia Dugdale in August.
The announcement was made shortly after 11am on Saturday morning, somewhat overshadowed by revelations made in The Sun newspaper Ms Dugdale would be jetting off to Australia to take part in TV show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here on the eve of the election result.
Ms Dugdale is yet to confirm whether she will be taking part in the popular ITV show, but has come under fierce criticism from members of the Scottish Labour party.
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Fife MSP Alex Rowley – who took over from Ms Dugdale in the interim – was suspended from the party earlier this week after allegations emerged over his conduct with a former partner.
Mr Rowley, 53, stepped aside from both his caretaker role as leader and his post as Scottish Labour deputy after the woman claimed their relationship had “felt like emotional blackmail and abuse”.
Mr Leonard, a supporter of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, won 56.7% of the overall vote with 12,469 ballots cast in his name, compared to Mr Sarwar’s 9,516.
