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| Richard Leonard announced as the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party | Richard Leonard announced as the new leader of the Scottish Labour Party |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Richard Leonard, a left-winger and ally of Jeremy Corbyn, has been announced as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party. | |
| The Central Scotland MSP defeated party health spokesman Anas Sarwar in a leadership vote triggered by the surprise resignation of Kezia Dugdale in August. | |
| Mr Sarwar, MSP for Glasgow, had been backed by several of the party's high-profile politicians including MPs Ian Murray and Harriet Harman, while Mr Leonard had trade union support. | |
| Mr Leonard's election will help to cement Mr Corbyn's control of the Labour party. | |
| He won the votes of 12,469 party members and supporters, while 9,516 backed Mr Sarwar. | |
| In his victory speech on Saturday morning, Mr Leonard said the result sent a "message of real change". | |
| The Yorkshireman, a former head of economics at the Scottish Trade Unions Congress, was elected to Holyrood last year and had the lower profile of the two leadership rivals. | |
| His victory was partly overshadowed by a row over his predecessor Ms Dugdale's decision to appear I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! | |
| The Lothian MPS was criticised by some party colleagues after it was reported she would fly to Australia to take part in the reality TV programme. | |
| She will join contestants including boxer Amir Khan, Boris Johnson's dad Stanley and Saturdays singer Vanessa White in the jungle for the ITV show. | |
| Labour MSP Jenny Marra tweeted: "Election to parliament is a privilege to serve and represent people. It's not a shortcut to celebrity." | |
| Announcing her resignation in August, Ms Dugdale said she left Scottish Labour "in better shape than I found it" and that a new leader with "fresh energy, drive and a new mandate" was need to take the party into the next Holyrood elections in 2021. | |
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