Kezia Dugdale: My time on ‘I’m a Celebrity’ was a success

Agnes Chambre

Kezia Dugdale has insisted that she achieved what she set out to do on 'I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here'.



The former Scottish Labour leader faced the wrath of her colleagues after taking up the reality TV offer without the permission of party bosses.

Before heading for the jungle, Ms Dugdale had said she was going on the ITV show to tell young people about "Labour values".

Speaking after being voted off the show last night, Ms Dugdale said although the decision was a “big gamble” she had “succeeded” in doing what she wanted to do.

She told ITV morning show Lorraine:“I know I’m going back to a good deal of criticism and I will take that face on. I’ve got to have a lot of conversations with people but I’m going back with my head held high.

“I came out here to do what I wanted to do, I believe I’ve succeeded in that and I love my job. It’s a great privilege to be a Labour politician and I fully intend on continuing to do it for a very long time.”

She added: “The way I look at it is this is the most-watched family TV programme in the history of TV, so to speak, and it’s watched largely by young people aged 18 to 24.

“That is the very group of people who are least engaged with politics so a big part of why I wanted to do this was to go out there and show people that politics matters, that there is a big difference between the two major parties, that your vote does count, to encourage young people to vote, because it’s only if young people vote that they will get the type of change that they want to see in their country.”

Although Ms Dugdale was not suspended by the Labour party, she will be forced to explain her decision to colleagues on her return.

Ms Dugdale was criticised by a number of Labour MSPs, including her successor Richard Leonard, who said he was “disappointed” in her decision.