Kezia Dugdale has won the Scottish Labour leadership election, beating outsider Ken Macintosh with more than 70 per cent of the vote, it was announced in Stirling on Saturday.
The contest follows the resignation of Jim Murphy after the Scottish Labour Party lost all but one of its 40 seats in the last general election.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was among the first to congratulate Ms Dugdale, first elected to Holyrood in 2011, who promised a "fresh start" for the Scottish Labour party.
Congratulations to @kdugdalemsp & @Alex_RowleyMSP on election as the new leader and deputy leader of Scottish Labour
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 15, 2015
Congratulations to @kdugdalemsp. She'll make a great leader of @scottishlabour!
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) August 15, 2015
Ms Dugdale, 33, vowed to work "night and day" to restore the party's political fortunes, telling supporters: "We are down, but we are not out."
Kezia Dugdale wins the most challenging job in UK politics: at 33 she wins the Leadership of the Scottish Labour Party
— Jon Snow (@jonsnowC4) August 15, 2015
The MSP for Edinburgh and Lothian, who previously held the deputy post, had led the leadership contest after being endorsed by the party’s senior figures, including Ian Murray, the party’s only remaining Scottish MP. She won the vote by a landslide 72.1 per cent.
The deputy leadership race has been won by MSP Alex Rowley, a former aide to Gordon Brown, who beat Glasgow city councillor Gordon Matheson and Richard Baker MSP in a tight contest.
Additional reporting by Press Association
