ANALYSIS Why Kezia Dugdale's resignation can help Jeremy Corbyn tighten his grip on Labour
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Jeremy Corbyn's joy at being comfortably re-elected Labour leader last September only lasted a few hours.
At a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee later the same day, a freshly-emboldened Corbyn said he wanted to postpone moves to put representatives from the Scottish and Welsh parties on the ruling body.
He knew that putting the extra seats in the gift of Kezia Dugdale in Scotland and Carwyn Jones in Wales would give party moderates the edge on the NEC.
Dugdale – who had backed Owen Smith in the leadership election – did not mince her words when Corbyn made his move, telling him: “How dare you preach unity and then try to undermine me as Scottish leader.”
In the end, Corbyn dropped the idea and the changes were voted through. In a final act of defiance, Dugdale took up Scotland's seat on the NEC herself.
But following her shock decision to quit last night – a decision which she kept from even her closest advisers until shortly before announcing it – the balance of power on the NEC looks set to swing back in favour of Corbyn and his supporters.
Although left-wing MSP Neil Findlay has ruled himself out from standing again, it would be a brave punter who put money on Dugdale's replacement not being a Corbyn ally.
Deputy leader Alex Rowley, who actively undermined Dugdale throughout her two-year tenure, is an early frontrunner, although former GMB official Richard Leonard is also in the frame. Former MP Anas Sarwar could be the standard-bearer for the moderates, but if the make-up of the membership in Scotland is anything like it is in the rest of the UK, he faces an uphill battle.
A victory for any Corbyn-backed candidate will mean the balance on the NEC would probably be 18-17 in favour of the leader. All of a sudden, policies such as the mandatory re-selection of MPs and lowering the nomination threshold for leadership candidates – the so-called "McDonnell amendment – are in play.
Kezia Dugdale was always a reluctant leader and, with Scottish Labour finally on the up after years in the shadow of the SNP, she leaves with her head held high.
But is her final legacy the delivery of Labour into the welcoming arms of Jeremy Corbyn?
