KEZIA Dugdale has said she will not resign as Scottish Labour leader even her party suffers a complete wipe-out in the General Election.
Ms Dugdale said she intended to stay on until at least the next Holyrood election in 2021 “no matter what the outcome” on June 8.
Labour currently has one seat in Scotland, Edinburgh South, which the SNP hope to gain.
Opinion polls suggest Labour will come third on vote share behind the Tories in Scotland, and are likely to come fourth in terms of seats, if they have any at all.
Appearing on BBC Radio Scotland’s Kaye Adams programme, Ms Dugdale was asked by the presenter what kind of election result it would take for her to stand down.
Ms Dugdale said: “I’m not going to even countenance that until the next Scottish Parliament elections. I’ve signed up to do a job for five years, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Ms Adams then asked: “No matter what the results in the general election, whether you’re left with no Labour MPs in Scotland?”
Ms Dugdale replied: “No matter what the outcome of that election I’m here for a five-year job.”
The Lothians MSP also revealed she had not voted for Labour or any other party until she was 23, meaning the 35-year-old sat out the 2001 Westminster election, the 2003 Scottish local election, the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, and the 2004 European election.
Ms Dugdale also suggested UK Labour’s campaign had been little better than adequate so far, rating it as “six or seven” out of 10 with just three weeks to go.
However she rejected the view of union boss Len McCluskey, who said he could not see Labour winning the General Election.
The Unite general secretary suggested winning 200 seats - nearly 30 fewer than in 2015 - would still count as a "successful" result for Jeremy Corbyn.
Ms Dugdale said she defined success as "winning the election".
She said of Mr McCluskey: "I hope he is wrong, I want to see a Labour government across the whole of the United Kingdom, that's what I'm spending every waking moment of my day campaigning for. I think he's wrong, I hope he's wrong."
Asked what success would look like in Scotland, she said: "I want to make progress in Scotland, I want to win more seats, I want to reduce the majority of SNP MPs in many other seats. The reality is in the vast majority of seats across Scotland's central belt, it is the Labour Party that stands a very strong second to the SNP."
Scottish Tory deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: "If even the leader of the Scottish Labour party ranks Labour so poorly, why should people in Scotland give Labour a chance?
"Kezia Dugdale's frank admission is only reflecting what people can see.
“Labour is in a mess and can't stand up to the SNP in Scotland.”
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