In the end is my beginning. The motto of Mary, Queen of Scots, may yet apply to Kezia Dugdale whose resignation shocked Scottish politics to its core last night.

For no one in the bubble of politics in Scotland really believes that this is the end of a 36-year-old politician who, lest it be forgotten, presided over a minor upsurge in the Scottish Labour Party’s fortunes in Theresa May's early General Election following the utter nadir of the 2015 debacle.

It was not perhaps a total recovery in June, and many would say her party might have recovered even further without her, but Scottish Labour did at least improve its representation in the House of Commons.

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Dugdale got no credit for that June result, and had faced much criticism within her own ranks for giving her wholehearted support to Owen Smith against Jeremy Corbyn in the second Labour leadership election, when she was vociferous in saying that Corbyn would make Labour unelectable. As it happens, in case everyone has forgotten, Corbyn did not actually win the election.

Dugdale said last night that she believed she had left the party in a better place than when she had found it - although it was under her watch that Scottish Labour finished third in the Scottish Parliament elections of 2016, and lost its place as the main opposition in Holyrood.

Almost as soon as she had stated her intention to resign last night, the siren voices were calling that she had done so because the Corbynistas wanted her gone. 

She had resolutely opposed his election as Labour leader, goes the theory, so when Corbyn came north of the border last week to preach his new gospel, the one person in the leadership of the party who was a ‘problem’ had to go. 

Alex Rowley, her deputy, may be in pole position to take over, although arch-Corbynista Neil Findlay, veteran centrist Anas Sarwar and Trident-loving Jackie Baillie could also be contenders. Rowley's stance on numerous issues is probably more in line with the rank and file of Scottish Labour than Dugdale’s, and certainly his willingness to look at independence and the issues surrounding a second referendum - as first reported in The National - could make Scottish political life more interesting.

Dugdale said last night: "I have thought long and hard about this. I care deeply about the Labour Party - I love it and I have devoted my adult life to serving it in a number of different capacities.

"And I have just come to the conclusion that the best thing for it, the Labour Party, this precious, precious thing that has done so much good in our country, and indeed for me, is to pass that baton on."

READ MORE: Corbyn's right hand man in Scotland rules himself out of bid to replace Kez

Dugdale recently announced that she is in a relationship with Jenny Gilruth, the SNP MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, and says she intends to continue life as a parliamentarian in Holyrood.

Of Corbyn, last night she said he has her full support, and that she expects him to become prime minister. "On a personal level we continue get on extremely well, and I wish him every success for the future," she said.