Kezia Dugdale joins I'm a Celebrity and causes split in Scottish Labour

Richard Leonard, the new leader of Scottish Labour, has said “feelings are running high” in the party after his predecessor, Kezia Dugdale, joined the reality TV show I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here.

Dugdale, who quit as Scottish leader in August, has caused a furious row after news leaked out on Friday night she was flying to join the contest in Australia without first getting party approval to be away from Holyrood for up to three weeks.

Her colleagues are split on whether Dugdale should be taking part and the dispute has eclipsed Leonard’s victory on Saturday after the party’s leadership contest, overshadowing coverage of his interventionist leftwing agenda. There are suggestions she failed to tell the party what her overseas trip was for.

One of Leonard’s most influential supporters, Neil Findlay – a combative Labour MSP who, like Dugdale, was elected to Holyrood on the Lothians regional list – said her decision to take part was “utterly ludicrous. It demeans politics when people get involved in that.”

He added: “People out there are struggling and there’s huge pressures on public services and that’s the job we should be doing.”

Jenny Gilruth, Dugdale’s partner and a Scottish National party MSP, retaliated by accusing Labour of bullying her.

Distancing himself from Findlay’s attacks, Leonard confirmed he did not believe Dugdale should be immediately suspended but said the Labour group at Holyrood needed to consider that option.

Asked about Gilruth’s accusations on BBC Radio Scotland, Leonard said: “There was certainly a strong reaction to it on social media … and feelings are running high about it, there is no question about that.”

Dugdale’s fate could be decided as early as Tuesday, when the Scottish Labour group at Holyrood is scheduled to hold its normal weekly meeting. But with Leonard still in the throes of appointing his key staff, party officials believe that meeting may be put back.

Jeremy Corbyn said on Saturday that he saw no case to suspend Dugdale, but as part of her reforms of the party’s structures, party discipline in Scotland is now controlled by the Scottish leader.

“I have said over the weekend that I think we need to consider it,” Leonard said. “And I have also expressed my own personal disappointment that that was the decision she has chosen to make.

“There are issues around not just the fact she is there, and the kind of programme it is and people’s view of that, there’s also a question of whether she got permission to do it. My understanding is she sought permission and wasn’t given permission.”

Dugdale has made no public comment about the controversy, which broke on Friday night about 12 hours before her successor was unveiled, but has reportedly promised to donate her MSP’s salary to charity while she is away. There are unconfirmed reports she will also donate her ITV fee to charity too.

Adding to Labour’s discomfort, Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has stoked the controversy by backing Dugdale’s decision on Sunday and joining an army of supporters on Twitter using the hashtag #TeamKez.

But asked about Dugdale’s participation in the programme, Sturgeon said on Monday: “It’s not something I would want to see an SNP MSP do. MSPs are elected to represent their constituents. I think it’s important they do that.“I am not sure I entirely understand what Kezia Dugdale thinks she will benefit from this. I am also not clear what her motivation might be. It’s not a decision I would take. I’m not sure there are many politicians who would choose to do what she is doing.

“That said, she is in the Scottish Labour party – they appear to be a nest of vipers, so perhaps getting away from that to the jungle, when you see it in that context, it’s easier to understand.”

She added: “She’s decided to do it, so you know what: good luck to her.”

John McTernan, formerly Scottish Labour’s head of policy at Holyrood and now a pollster with consultancy PSB, said he believed Dugdale was right to take part. “I think the people criticising Kez are incredibly po-faced.

“There are millions of people out there who are alienated by politics as it is traditionally done, and the opportunity to appear on primetime TV, and show the human side of herself and connect with the public is one she should never give up.”

SNP activists have joined in by highlighting the splits in Labour while publicly backing Dugdale on Twitter. She is expected to join the 10 other contestants, including the boxer Amir Khan, Stanley Johnson, the father of the foreign secretary, and comedian Shappi Khorsandi later this week.

Sturgeon, like many other viewers in Scotland drawn to the show by the controversy, was surprised Dugdale was not unveiled with the other contestants when this year’s series started on Sunday evening.

The Tory MP Nadine Dorries, who was suspended from the party when she appeared in the reality TV show five years ago, tweeted:

Labour’s discomfort centres in part on pressure in the party for it to support legislation barring MSPs and MPs from having second jobs. As Scottish leader, Dugdale had repeatedly told Sturgeon she needed to “get back to the day job” of running public services rather than focusing on Scottish independence.

Spandex cats and insect burials: reality star politicians

George Galloway The former leader of the now-defunct Respect party, Galloway appeared on Celebrity Big Brother for nearly three weeks in 2006. In his most memorable moment, a Spandex-clad Galloway pretended to be a cat and mimed drinking milk. His stint on the show resulted in criticism from his constituents, but didn’t stop him winning re-election in 2012.

Vince Cable The current Liberal Democrat leader joined Strictly Come Dancing for the BBC show’s Christmas special in 2010. The MP for Twickenham’s foxtrot to Winter Wonderland failed to win the competition; however, his failure to put his best foot forward clearly didn’t damage his political career, and he became party leader after Tim Farron’s resignation earlier this year.

Nadine Dorries Like Dugdale, the Tory MP for Mid Bedfordshire courted controversy by jetting off to the Australian jungle without informing her party in 2012. Dorries, who was buried in insects in one of the show’s trials, was suspended for six months for her appearance on the show; she was later forced to apologise to the Commons after failing to declare her appearance fee.

Penny Mordaunt The Conservative politician appeared on ITV’s celebrity diving show Splash! in 2014. Attacked by some for appearing, she defended herself on the grounds that she donated the £10,000 appearance fee to charity. Once again, it doesn’t seem to have damaged her career – she replaced Priti Patel as secretary of state for international development earlier this month.

Ed Balls Like Cable, the former shadow chancellor took to the dancefloor in 2016, making it to week 10 before being eliminated after his tango to (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The former Labour politician’s appearance came after he lost his seat in the 2015 general election; after providing audiences with a few memorable shimmies, he has become a visiting professor at King’s College London. Clea Skopeliti