How Kezia Dugdale's resignation could shake up Labour NEC

Kezia Dugdale's shock resignation last night has all manner of implications for the MSP herself, her closest colleagues, her political rivals, and the wider Scottish party.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his former Scottish counterpart Kezia Dugdale

However, the aftershocks of Ms Dugdales abrupt, if understandable, departure, could set off a chain of events that could tighten Jeremy Corbyn’s grip on power.

Ms Dugdale’s departure, which is with immediate effect, meaning there is no transition period (something that has more centrist members of Scottish Labour a little miffed) for a handover to take place.

Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee now has a vacancy, as Ms Dugdale had taken the space reserved for a member of Scotland’s opposition.

Here’s how that move could lead to big changes for Jeremy Corbyn’s party.

What is the NEC?

Labour’s NEC is the party’s ruling body – it decides not only rules for internal elections, but all manner of points of strategy.

The NEC has been in the news before after making a number of divisive rulings during both of the most recent leadership elections, which Jeremy Corbyn won handily.

The party leadership is represented, as are councillors, parliamentarians, and the powerful Trade Unions who exert huge influence on the committee.

After the most recent elections, constituency party representatives allied to the Corbyn leadership, and his campaigning arm Momentum, are now much better represented.

There are still elements of the NEC which are hostile to Corbyn, and due to her backing of Owen Smith in last year’s leadership contest, Ms Dugdale was considered one of those elements.

Until now.

New man in charge

One of the reasons that Alex Rowley, the current deputy leader of the Labour Party, is thought to have ruled himself out is because he would have had to resign that position.

He has been backed by one Trade Union to lead the party through a temporary, but lengthy, process of leadership.

Rowley will take up the seat vacated by Ms Dugdale on a temporary basis, tiping the balance, in the eyes of many, back to an overtly pro-Corbyn majority on the NEC.

Rowley’s position as the temporary leader, combined with his new position on the NEC, will allow him to exert tremendous influence on the upcoming leadership contest.

It will also presumably help Jeremy Corbyn in one of the most crucial meetings that the party’s ruling body will have this year.

On the agenda

There is one thing in the NEC’s in-tray for their next meeting, and it is a political set piece that dominates the Autumn – the party conference.

Everything from the cost of passes to the stalls allowed by advertisers is discussed by the party’s ruling body, and the next meeting will hash out the themes of the conference, as well as the policy platforms that will be discussed.

With one more pro-Corbyn voice in the temporary leader Alex Rowley, the Momentum faction of the party will be increasingly buoyant about their chances of pursuing a left-wing agenda at the late September showcase in Brighton.

The annual seaside gatherings are often dull from day to day, but they have a disproportionate impact on their parties, a good or bad conference can define a leadership.

And Ms Dugdale’s departure could lead to some defining moments for the organisation of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.