Who is Kate Forbes? Scottish Leader Candidates Who Are Often Eliminated

EDINBURGH – In her relatively short political career, Kate Forbes has experienced the ups and downs of her career at Holyrood.

She enjoyed a rapid rise to become the country’s first female finance minister Scotland in 2020, but was narrowly defeated in last year’s SNP leadership contest by Humza Yousaf.

There is now speculation that the backbench MSP could make a second bid for his party’s top job.

The former minister left the cabinet in March 2023 after being offered rural affairs duties by Yousaf, in what could be seen as a major demotion.

He later told the New Statesman that he would “have a hard time turning down” an offer to remain as Treasury Secretary.

During the SNP leadership campaign, Forbes came under fire for his views on gay marriage, abortion and trans rights.

The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP came under further criticism after telling Sky News that having children out of wedlock was “wrong” according to his beliefs as a member of the Free Church of Scotland.

But he considers honesty about his beliefs to be an important part of who he is, telling the New Statesman that he would be “haunted” if he did not answer questions about his religious views honestly during the campaign.

In 2018, Forbes told the National Prayer Breakfast for Scotland that politicians must “realize that how we treat the most vulnerable – whether the unborn or the terminally ill – is the true measure of progress”.

He was among 15 SNP politicians who wrote an open letter to Ms Sturgeon the following year, asking for a delay to gender recognition reforms that would have allowed people in Scotland to identify their own gender.