Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Euan McColm: Kate Forbes is far from perfect, but she’s the leader the north is crying out for

Kate Forbes appears to understand the needs of rural and northern Scotland, is articulate and engaging, and polls show she is popular.

Kate Forbes is yet to confirm if she will put in an SNP leadership bid for the second time. Image: Barlow/PA
Kate Forbes is yet to confirm if she will put in an SNP leadership bid for the second time. Image: Barlow/PA

It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if readers of The Press and Journal wondered whether it makes any difference who replaces Humza Yousaf as first minister.

After all, since the SNP won its first Holyrood election in 2007, it has steadily centralised power. This tendency grew stronger under the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon, a control freak of note, and now it often seems the party has lost sight of the priorities of those Scots who don’t live in the Central Belt.

For decades, while Labour dominated urban Scotland, the SNP made much of that party’s neglect of the rest of the country. Nationalist politicians harried the Labour Party’s failure to consider the needs of anyone who had the audacity to live north of the Trossachs.

On winning power, however, the SNP began to take its core support for granted. Having achieved previously unthinkable victories across Glasgow and Edinburgh, the party’s priority was to retain those voters. That meant letting down the north.

The promised dualling of the A9 – hardly unimportant, on the grounds the road is the most dangerous in Scotland – is still incomplete. Meanwhile, support for rural businesses is poor and, perhaps most problematic of all, the SNP has been utterly incoherent on the question of further exploration of North Sea oil beds.

Depending on the audience, an SNP politician may either believe the use of fossil fuels must end immediately, or it must be slowly phased out in a way that causes the minimum damage to the economy of Aberdeen and, indeed, the entire country.

Either a two-horse race or a coronation

We wait for confirmation of which SNP MSPs wish to take over from Yousaf, whose resignation on Monday was forced when his decision to end the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens at Holyrood backfired and led to a planned vote of no confidence in his leadership. But, so far, it looks likely that there will either be a two-horse race or a coronation.

If it’s the former, the candidates will be Kate Forbes, MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, and former deputy first minister and MSP for Perthshire North, John Swinney, who led the SNP – entirely unsuccessfully – between 2000 and 2004.

But a number of senior MSPs would prefer Forbes to step aside in return for a key role in a Swinney government.

Former Deputy First Minister John Swinney has already been endorsed by many of his party colleagues. Image: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA Wire

When Forbes stood against Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon last year, she gave an interview in which she said – as a devout Christian and member of the Free Church of Scotland – she would not have voted in favour of gay marriage had she been an elected member at the time it was legalised. She also holds strongly socially conservative views about abortion and sex outside marriage.

This horrified a number of her colleagues, including the departing Sturgeon, who felt a Forbes leadership would destroy the SNP’s “progressive” credentials. There followed – despite her assurance that her faith did not mean she had any desire to roll back any equality legislation – a rather brutal campaign of briefing against Forbes.

In the end, after Regan was knocked out in the first round of voting, Forbes ran Yousaf very close, taking 48% of the votes to his 52%.

Is another continuity candidate really the answer?

Legitimate concerns – which I share – about Forbes’s suitability for the role remain. She may not have have any desire to undermine existing legislation, but might her faith impact on other issues in future? Are there areas of, for example, scientific research that might collide with her beliefs? Since Forbes has spoken about the influence of her Christianity, these are legitimate questions.

Many in forgotten rural Scotland, even if they are uncomfortable with Forbes’s views, may think she is the best option for first minister

The MSP sought to neutralise the matter of her personal beliefs in a series of social media posts. “Can we,” she wrote, “get away from the language of who is and who isn’t ‘acceptable’ to work with? My world is big enough to embrace the Greens – is theirs big enough? A pertinent question for many.”

Many in forgotten rural Scotland, even if they are uncomfortable with Forbes’s views, may think she is the best option for first minister. She appears to understand the needs of rural and northern Scotland, is articulate and engaging, and – and this should be considered by SNP members – polls show she is more popular than Swinney with the electorate.

As things stand, John Swinney is the favourite to succeed Humza Yousaf. But is replacing one continuity candidate with another really the answer?

Kate Forbes is far from perfect, but might she be best placed to give the north the attention it so desperately needs?


Euan McColm is a regular columnist for various Scottish newspapers

Conversation