Scottish Labour’s acting leader Alex Rowley today stepped down while claims he harassed a former partner are investigated.
The senior Labour figure, once election agent for Gordon Brown, said he would stand aside as he fights claims he made his ex’s life “hell”.
He denies the allegations and has vowed to clear his name.
He said in a statement today: “These allegations must be properly and thoroughly investigated in line with our party’s procedures — and I will refer myself to the party so such an investigation can take place.
“While that investigation is carried out, I will step aside as deputy leader, as well as interim leader, of the Scottish Labour party.”
Mr Rowley’s decision to step down has rocked Holyrood, which like Westminster has been at the centre of allegations over politicians’ conduct.
It comes just 11 days after Aberdeen SNP MSP Mark McDonald quit his post and apologised “unreservedly” after admitting “inappropriate” behaviour.
In an interview with the Scottish Sun today, Mr Rowley’s former partner claimed “emotional blackmail and abuse” in their relationship.
She said they first met in 1997 when he was a councillor and she worked for a newspaper, and got together in 2010.
She told the Scottish Sun that he subjected her to three years of torment, adding: “I honestly wish I’d never let him into my life.
“He was a ruthless bully... He destroyed my life. I’m a shadow of the woman I once was.”
In March 2011 she told the police she was being harassed, and lodged a second complaint in 2014, naming him directly.
A Scottish Labour Party spokesman said: “Alex Rowley has referred himself to the party’s internal complaints procedure regarding allegations made against him.”
Mr Rowley, who is MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, took over the party after Kezia Dugdale quit as leader in August.
Voting is under way to find a new Scottish Labour leader, with the results due to be announced on Saturday, in a contest between Left-wing MSP Richard Leonard, a former trade union organiser, and moderate MSP Anas Sarwar — Labour’s health spokesman at Holyrood.
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