Kezia Dugdale named Politician of the Year at Icon Awards

Former leader of Scottish Labour, Kezia Dugdale has won the Politician of the Year Award at the Icon Awards.

Kezia Dugdale was given the award last night at a ceremony in Glasgow.

The Lothian MSP was named at the third annual awards night, celebrating diversity and the LGBTQI community, in Glasgow last night.

The 35-year-old MSPS and current co-chair on Children and Young People, LGBTI+ and Sexual Health, attended the award ceremony,. her first appearance with her partner, SNP MSP Jenny Gulruith.

The former Labour leader spoke at the event focusing on why diversity and inclusion are so important.

Last month, Kezia Dugdale stepped down as leader stating she left the party “in better shape than I found it”, after taking on the job in the wake of the 2015 general election, which saw Labour lose all but one of its MPs in Scotland while the SNP enjoyed a landslide victory.

Activist, Gordon Aikman, who was close friends with Kezia Dugdale who died earlier this year after battling Motor Neuron Disease, was posthumously awarded the Icon award for his “courage, bravery and fundraising”.

Scott Barclay, one half of the very first same-sex couple to be married in Scotland and Chair of the Icon Awards said: “Over the last three years we have seen unprecedented support for the Icon Awards not just from Scotland but from all over the world and we are proud to be the largest event of its kind in Scotland that celebrates those who have championed diversity and inclusion in our education system, workplaces and communities.

“I am proud that Scotland doesn’t just tolerate diversity but we celebrate it and tonight’s ceremony shows the world how proud we are.”