Kate Forbes, the rising star who couldn't land the SNP leadership
The MSP for Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch was appointed a government minister in 2018 and proved her capability after being named finance secretary on the eve of the Scottish budget, when a scandal forced the incumbent to step down.
Forbes was one of three candidates who stood in the SNP leadership election after Nicola Sturgeon's sudden resignation in 2023. Forbes cut short her maternity leave to campaign just six months after the birth of her first child.
A member of the Free Church of Scotland, her religious views caused controversy early in her leadership campaign as she said she would not have supported same sex marriage as a 'matter of conscience' if she had been an MSP when the vote was held.
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an hour ago
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an hour ago
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Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Few of the SNP's current generation had to prove themselves like Kate Forbes, who was asked to deliver the Budget with just a few hours' notice after Finance Secretary Derek Mackay resigned in disgrace. Despite the daunting task ahead, Forbes rose to the occasion. There were more tests to come – within weeks she was Finance Secretary in a pandemic. As Scottish Labour's finance spokesperson at the time, I clashed with her many times in the Chamber. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But outside of legislative debate, she was warm, funny and no-nonsense, with a mind of her own. So perhaps it's not surprising that Forbes made the decision to step away and put her family first. She has always used her platform to be open about the challenges of motherhood, from the lack of support for postnatal depression to the limited creche hours at Holyrood. But this isn't about the creche. Kate Forbes has announced she is standing down as an MSP at the next election (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell) | Getty Images Politics always a sacrifice No doubt Forbes' job was made harder by the geographic realities of representing a constituency five hours' drive from Edinburgh and being a government minister. I was a government minister and a constituency MSP in the first parliament and my daughter was aged seven – that meant a two-hour drive to go home every night. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Remote voting and working have made that easier but it still is difficult when you have young children. It's a reckoning other politicians have come to, including Gail Ross, a former SNP MSP in the Highlands. Forbes is smart and self-disciplined enough to know that politics was always going to be a sacrifice. But those in power should ask themselves why making that sacrifice for a job in the SNP government is so impossible for a capable and ambitious woman these days. Was it the years of misogynistic online abuse that female politicians suffer from disproportionately, across the political spectrum? Was it the undignified scramble by Forbes' SNP colleagues to disown her, following her decision to be upfront with party members about her faith? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Or was it the fact that Forbes – who could have launched a leadership bid after being vindicated by Humza Yousaf's government, but accepted a role as deputy leader to John Swinney – seems to have been treated more as a liability than an asset? A rancid government As an opposition politician, it's not for me to delve into the inner battles for the soul of the SNP. But one thing I do know is that Forbes' departure only adds to the whiff of rancidness about this current SNP government. The next future SNP leadership battle is less likely to be a serious debate about ideas and more a question of whether Stephen Flynn's ego will outweigh Mairi McAllan's mediocrity. Neither of them seem willing to challenge the status quo, despite the long queues at A&E departments, the failing ferries and a lazy tax-and-spend policy of chipping away at working people's bank balances without boosting growth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I wish Forbes well with the next stage in her life and her future endeavours. But the entitled and complacent party she leaves behind is unlikely to attract such another young rising star. And that's the real reckoning that's needed.
