A FORMER Labour MSP publicly accused Kezia Dugdale of failing to contact the defeated candidates since election night, in the latest embarrassment for the party.
Siobhan McMahon, who failed to win re-election to the Central Scotland region last week, took to Facebook to blast the Scottish Labour later for being "too busy cooking" to phone unsuccessful candidates.
Ms McMahon, posting under her married name of Siobhan Wright, wrote: "So Kez tweeted last night that she was cooking with real ingredients for the first time since the start of this election campaign! I for one was pleased to hear this piece of information.
"Now I know the reason she has failed to phone defeated candidates in the election, she's been far too busy cooking. I should say I don't mind that she's failed to speak to me since the list results were announced in February but to not phone people who have been MSPs since 1999 speaks volumes about her leadership. Maybe it's part of her five-year plan..."
However, a spokesman for Scottish Labour said Ms Dugdale was inviting all non-returning MSPs to dinner next week.
He said: "Kez has written to all non-returning MSPs (i.e. the ones who lost their seat or didn't get returned on the list) to invite them to dinner next week. She hosted a dinner for retiring MSPs before the election campaign. We appreciate the hard work and effort of all those people who have represented Labour over the years."
Ms McMahon is the daughter of Labour veteran, Michael McMahon, who lost his seat as MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill.
He was previously the member for the former seat of Hamilton North and Bellshill and served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government for Labour in the Scottish Parliament since 2007.
A number of other high-profile Labour stalwarts also lost their constituencies and failed to make the regional list following last week's election, including Patricia Ferguson, John Pentland and Paul Martin.
However, Ms McMahon added that she did not think it made sense to switch leaders again, saying they would not "last five years".
Ms McMahon's outburst came after Ms Dugdale tweeted about enjoying her first homecooked meal now that the gruelling election campaign is over.
I just cooked a meal, with actual ingredients and stuff. Candidates of all colours will identify with this novelty 🍲👍🏼👏🏼
— Kezia Dugdale (@kezdugdale) May 8, 2016
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