Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale headed for celebrity jungle
2 min read
The former leader of Scottish Labour Party is to appear on IT’V’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, much to the chagrin of her Holyrood colleagues.
The 36-year-old MSP is due to join Boris Johnson’s dad Stanley in the Australian jungle as they compete for the title of King or Queen of the Jungle.
Stars do receive a fee for appearing on the show, with top names like Amir Khan rumoured to pull in £250,000.
A source said: “It’s hard to represent constituents when you’re on the other side of the world.
“This signing is bound to annoy a lot of taxpayers. Kezia is going to be unable to perform her day job and serve her constituents for several weeks while she’s in the show.
“It might be good publicity for her, but there’s some who will think it’s not so good for the Labour party.”
The source added: “Bosses know she’ll get people talking.
“Kezia’s a strong figure with some forthright views which she will bring to the show.”
One source close to Kez said: “What a fantastic opportunity for Kez to speak about politics and Labour values on one of the most popular and watched TV shows in the UK.
“Everyone in the party knows Kez worked tirelessly as leader, and held over 30 surgeries this year alone despite the pressure of being in the top job, and she has donated more than £20,000 to charity.
“She’ll now be giving even more to charity, including her salary while she’s away for a short while.
“She puts other politicians to shame with her work ethic and I’m sure there will be huge support for her from Scottish viewers while she’s in the jungle.
“She’ll be back in time for the budget and will get straight down to work once again for the people of the Lothians.”
The Scottish Conservatives were less forgiving though: "Kezia clearly thinks dining on kangaroo testicle is more appealing than being an MSP. She should consider her position as an elected member before chucking herself off that plane over the Australian jungle."
I’m A Celebrity starts tomorrow on ITV at 9pm.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
