The leader of Scotland’s Labour party, Kezia Dugdale, has become the fifth key political figure and fourth party leader in Scottish politics to come out as gay. Giving an interview to a magazine, Dugdale said she had a female partner.

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservative party; Patrick Harvie, the co-convenor of the Scottish Green party; and David Coburn, the leader of Ukip Scotland, have also come out as gay or bisexual, along with Scotland’s only Conservative MP, David Mundell, the secretary of state for Scotland.

In the interview with Mary Riddell in the Fabian Review, Dugdale, 34, said: “I have a female partner. I don’t talk about it very much because I don’t feel I need to.”

Her decision to reveal the information was met with widespread support among Scottish politicians.

Explaining her decision to keep her private life away from the spotlight since being elected to the Scottish parliament in 2011 and becoming party leader in 2015, Dugdale said: “I don’t get easily stressed or battered. But I need a bit of stability to do that and that means my private life is my private life. That’s the thing I just have to have that nobody gets to touch, and that gives me the strength to be calm elsewhere.”

Scotland is believed to be the only country in the world where most of its political party leaders are openly lesbian, gay or bisexual.

As people sent messages to Dugdale on social media, congratulating her on coming out, she wrote in response: “Thanks for all the lovely messages of support – appreciated.”

Dugdale was also forced to clarify her stance on Scottish independence after saying in the same interview that “it’s not inconceivable” she could support a future yes vote if the UK leaves the EU. She said she would very much like Scotland to remain part of both the UK and the EU.

Dugdale was asked where her loyalty would be if there was an overall vote to leave in the EU referendum but the majority of Scots wanted to remain. She said: “I’ve never contemplated that. I really wouldn’t like to choose, because what I want to do is the best possible thing for Scotland.”

When pushed on the topic and asked if she would “argue, for Scotland’s sake, against the UK union”, Dugdale said: “Possibly. It’s not inconceivable.” She went on to say: “As I made clear in the leaders’ TV debate this week, Labour has ruled out a second independence referendum. We won’t introduce one in government and we would vote against one if it’s introduced by any other party.

“I campaigned as hard as anybody to ensure that Scotland remained part of the UK. The collapse in the oil price showed that the best way to secure our public services is to stay in the UK. I would vote to stay in the UK in any future referendum.”

The Scottish Labour party elected Dugdale in August 2015, making her the youngest ever leader of the party. The party has been thrown into disarray after a near wipeout at the 2015 general election, when the SNP claimed nearly all Labour’s seats. Dugdale is battling to restore the balance in Scotland’s parliamentary elections this summer.

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As well as being a strong supporter of same-sex marriage, Dugdale has voiced her support for civil partnerships to be extended to opposite-sex couples. She has also spoken out against the Catholic church being allowed to block same-sex adoptions. In March, Dugdale, together with Davidson and Harvie, decided not to applaud when presented with the Ghanian president at Holyrood, protesting at the country’s anti-gay laws.

Davidson featured her partner in a campaign broadcast last year and has spoken out with passion against homophobia in schools, backing a Stonewall Scotland campaign on the issue.

Scotland was last year rated the best country in Europe in terms of legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Last week, at a hustings in Edinburgh organised by Stonewall Scotland, the Scottish first minister, with cross-party backing, made several commitments on LGBTI equality including to review and reform gender recognition laws for transgender people.

At the hustings all five party leaders expressed backing for a gender neutral passport. Davidson also described having become the first openly gay Scottish Conservative MP. “When I ran for election, there were four candidates, each of whom was described by the media in a different way from me,” she said. “They were described by their jobs. Then there was ‘lesbian kick-boxer’ Ruth Davidson.

“It’s taken a long time to stop being lesbian kick-boxer Ruth Davidson and start being Tory leader Ruth Davidson. It’s been quite a journey. Now I think we have the gayest group of candidates we’ve ever had.”



• This article was amended on 11 April 2016. An earlier version referred to Patrick Harvie as leader, rather than co-convenor, of the Scottish Green party.

