Jennifer Suzanne Yaa Dugdale (b. 27 May 1980) is a Georgeland politician who served as Head of Government of the Federal District of Georgeland, the political head of Georgeland's capital city Topstad and its environs from 2019 to 2022. In 2022 she resigned to enter federal politics. Dugdale was the second black Georgelander (after Eve Morris) to lead a state or territory administration (third after Lawrence Porter to lead a government, Porter having been the first as Prime Minister), the second LGBT person (after Michael Bridger), the first LGBT woman, and the first black LGBT person in a government leadership role. Her government was predominantly concerned with the Covid-19 pandemic in the capital - after failing to secure a majority, Dugdale was forced into coalition with the Socialist Workers' Party in 2020, moving her government leftwards.
Dugdale is a second-generation Black Georgelander. Her father, Kwame Duko, was a Ashanti man from Ghana who emigrated to Georgeland in 1974, and her mother Genevieve Solange was a French-Malagasy woman who was forced to flee Madagascar in 1976 after government troops killed her father and brothers. Duko and Solange both settled in Topstad where they eventually married and had five children, of which Dugdale was the second-youngest.
Dugdale changed her surname from Duko-Solange in 2004 upon graduating from the University of Topstad. She chose the Scottish name Dugdale in tribute to black civil rights leader and immigration reformist Gordon Dugdale. Dugdale has spoken on the record about her experience of racism and having been rejected from jobs because of her African-sounding surname. In 2019, Dugdale told the Topstad Times that she did not reject and rather embraced her African heritage, and that the decision to change her name did not impact on her pride in being black or her anti-racism.
After studying communications at UT, Dugdale worked in arts policy and spent a year in Europe on a work-exchange program, living in Berlin and Naples. A socialist, Dugdale joined the Liberal Democrats in 2009 in order to support Lawrence Porter, the first black person to lead a Georgeland party, and campaigned for him. In 2012, Dugdale was elected to the Topstad City Council as a Liberal Democrat. She transferred along with several other councillors to the new Legislative Council in 2016.
Upon her election, Dugdale was made the District's first Commissioner for Justice and Emergency Services. This put her in charge of the police and justice system, of which Dugdale had been a harsh critic on the city council. In 2017, Dugdale fired the city's Chief of Police, Scott Richardson, citing his failure to deal with institutional racism. Richardson subsequently sued the city for unfair dismissal, but settled out-of-court in 2018.
Upon the resignation of Brian Beck in October 2018, following sexual assault charges brought on by the ongoing MeToogate scandal, Dugdale was chosen unanimously by the LDP as his successor. This made her the first black woman to hold a party leadership position in Georgeland.
In July 2019, following decreasing poll numbers and media scrutiny of her investment dealings with several indicted bank officials, Andrea Perkins was forced to resign as Head of Government. The Liberal Democrats voted 5-4 to spill the leadership, and Perkins resigned rather than contest the ballot. Dugdale was elected unopposed as her replacement.
Following the general election of 2020, Dugdale failed to secure a majority on the Council. On 21 July, she was elected Head of Government for a new term following a deal with the Socialist Workers Party.
On 18 May 2021, Dugdale was seriously injured when her car skidded off a road and into an electrical substation. Suffering from multiple broken ribs and a fractured skull, Dugdale took medical leave, leaving SWP leader Peter Tsau as Acting Head of Government. She resumed limited duties on 14 July and full duties on 18 September.
On 15 March 2022, the Liberal Democrats selected Dugdale to head their ticket for the House of Commons in the District at the upcoming federal election, due in August. Dugdale resigned from the Legislative Council and as Head of Government - she was succeeded by Andrew Fisher.
Dugdale is a lesbian, and has spoken at length about homophobia in the black community - she is estranged from her father who did not approve of her coming out when she was seventeen. She cited this as another factor in her decision to change her surname. Dugdale married her long-term partner, Helen Franks, in 2017. She is the first LGBT woman to lead a Georgeland government.