SCOTTISH Labour leader Richard Leonard’s new chief of staff has become embroiled in a row over her appearance on a TV station alleged to be a front for the Kremlin.

Lesley Brennan accepted a debating slot on RT in May at the same time as her party’s MSPs were boycotting the propaganda channel.

The party declined to say if she was paid or not.

A Scottish Labour insider said: "It's bad enough seeing Salmond and SNP politicians disgracing themselves on Putin's propaganda channel, without one of our own appearing on it. Appearing on RT, especially in recent months, calls into question anybody's judgement and this revelation won't go down well with the Scottish Labour group."

Although RT is a registered broadcaster in the UK the channel has struggled to gain credibility over its strong ties to the Russian state. Its output is slanted towards the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin and political parties have urged their representatives to body-swerve the station.

However, parties have been unable to stop all their MPs and MSPs from accepting punditry gigs and former SNP First Minister Alex Salmond has been slated for having his own show on the channel.

After news broke that Salmond’s show would be broadcast on RT, Labour shadow cabinet member Anas Sarwar accused the ex-MP of an “astonishing lack of judgement”.

Brennan, who is a leading figure in the pro-Corbyn Campaign For Socialism pressure group, was a senior member on Leonard’s campaign team.

An internal email last week confirmed she had been appointed as the new leader’s “chief of staff”, effectively Leonard’s most senior staffer.

It stated: “Lesley will be trying to arrange an early meeting with Labour staff as soon as possible to discuss her role and future working arrangements in Parliament.

“I know that these last few days and weeks have been unsettling, as the leadership of the Party has been in transition. It is my aim to get some certainty and stability, and I will be working closely with Lesley to achieve this for everyone.”

In May, when she was Labour’s General Election candidate in Dundee East, she took part in a head-to-head debate on RT with SNP MSP James Dornan on Scotland’s relationship with the EU.

Brennan used the platform to praise Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on constitutional change and she said she favoured policies that focused on “class over country”. She came third in the election contest.

Brennan was an economist who was an MSP for less than 80 days in 2016. She became a List MSP ahead of the Holyrood election but was not returned to Holyrood.

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “After her stint on RT perhaps Alex Salmond has more friends in Scottish Labour than he realised. Given Richard Leonard appears so paranoid about the ‘mainstream media’, this could be a sign of things to come for Labour’s new media strategy.”

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "We don't comment on stories regarding staff."