The new leader of Scottish Labour, Richard Leonard, has questioned whether his predecessor Kezia Dugdale’s appearance on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! is “a good way of getting across the message of socialism on television”.
Dugdale, in a message to constituents recorded before she left for Australia to participate in the ITV reality show, described the contest as “an amazing opportunity to talk to young people who watch this programme about politics, and – in particular – Labour values”.
WATCH: Kez's message to constituents, explaining why she is appearing on I'm a Celebrity. #TeamKez. pic.twitter.com/suOp0XeqWw
— Team Kez 🕷 (@TeamKez) November 22, 2017
Leonard, a Corbynite reformer whose convincing victory in the leadership election last Saturday was overshadowed by Dugdale’s surprise announcement, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he was disappointed by her decision to spend three weeks while the Scottish parliament is in session filming on location in Australia.
“I realise it’s a very popular programme seen by millions of people. I’m not sure the circumstance in which it presents politicians is the one that I would choose. And I’m not sure it is a good way of getting across the message of socialism on television,” he said.
Leonard reiterated his disappointment at Dugdale’s decision, which has attracted criticism from across the political spectrum, including from some previously stalwart supporters.
The Lothian MSP, who made her first appearance on the programme on Thursday night, resigned unexpectedly in August as Scottish Labour leader – a role she had held since 2015.
Leonard said: “I was disappointed that she chose to do that. There are two things: one is we expect our MSPs to be diligent in their parliamentary work. It’s a great privilege and honour to be elected by the people to be their representative in parliament.
“Second, there is an issue about the fact that she sought authorisation and didn’t get it. She’s there on unauthorised absence. So that’s a bit of an issue for us inside the Labour party in Scotland.”
The Scottish Labour group opted on Tuesday not to suspend Dugdale, but said she needed to give a full account of her decision after she returned to the UK.
Dugdale has promised to donate part of her appearance fee to a homeless charity.
Responding to Leonard’s criticisms, a spokesperson for Dugdale said: “Kez hopes her Labour values will shine through while she is in the jungle, and it will demonstrate that politicians are human beings. Appearing on the show will also offer other opportunities for her to promote Labour policy when she leaves the camp.“But her main focus will be returning to work as Labour MSP for the Lothians, a job she fully intends to do for the long-term.”
On Thursday night, Dugdale appeared to enjoy an early boost when she won the support of all of her nine fellow participants to back her against Iain Lee, her rival for the position of “jungle prime minister”.
But during her first challenge, she struggled to find the requisite food tokens while crawling through containers of fish guts, insects and snakes.
When Dugdale first arrived in the celebrity camp, Boris Johnson’s father Stanley appeared bemused, asking: “Who is she?” A fellow contestant, Rebecca Vardy, explained to him: “Someone from the Labour party.”
