Meteoric rise of a politician facing one of the biggest tasks
IN less than four years, Kate Forbes has been catapulted into one of the top jobs in the Scottish Government. Her progression up the ranks of Nicola Sturgeon’s team of MSPs is unprecedented and she also becomes the first woman to secure the Finance Secretary job since the Scottish parliament was created.
At the age of 29, her remarkably fast political rise is in sharp contrast to her two predecessors in the role.
John Swinney was already one of the SNP’s most recognisable politicians, and a former party leader, when Alex Salmond made him his first Finance Secretary in 2007. When Miss Sturgeon shifted Mr Swinney to Education Secretary in a 2016 reshuffle, Mr Mackay – himself regarded as a future SNP leader at the time – was awarded the finance role following an apprenticeship which included a long stint as Local Government Minister then a spell in the potentially politically fatal role of Transport Minister.
In contrast, Miss Forbes only became an MSP in 2016 and her only government role has been as Public Finance Minister under Mr Mackay since 2018.
Following the scandal that brought down her boss, Miss Forbes is seen by the SNP leadership as the perfect contrast to escape from sleaze and shame: young, female and devoutly Christian.
Many in the SNP have been lobbying on her behalf for her to be awarded the job since she stepped in at the last minute to deliver the Budget earlier this month following the controversy around Mr Mackay’s exit only hours earlier.
A Cambridge University graduate and former accountant, she was already one of her party’s rising stars. She has also impressed rivals with her ability to avoid the tribal style of politics favoured by some of her colleagues.
Miss Forbes also raised her profile by campaigning for a ban on plastic straws, and from doing the business lunch and dinner rounds since being appointed Minister for Public Finance and Digital Connectivity.
Her strong religious views, partly a consequence of her Free Church of Scotland upbringing, have concerned some in her party. Among the most controversial is her concern about abortion, while she has also raised eyebrows with her willingness to publicly challenge the Scottish Government’s gender reforms.
DURING a prayer breakfast at the height of the controversy over the lack of abortion rights for women in Northern Ireland, Miss Forbes told an audience including SNP donor Brian Souter that politicians should recognise the treatment of the ‘unborn’ is a ‘measure of true progress’.
She has also campaigned against the ‘increasingly hostile’ environment for Christian beliefs in schools.
In a sign of the friction the abortion issue has within the party, MP Lisa Cameron voted against liberalising abortion laws in Northern Ireland despite most of her colleagues backing it – then claimed she was being ‘persecuted’ for her Christian beliefs.
However, others in the SNP say Miss Forbes’s views should not prevent her taking on a role mainly focused on finances and numbers rather than religious and moral issues.
While her views may spark debate, she has one immediate task – securing enough support to get the SNP’s Budget through parliament. It is one of the biggest tasks in Scottish politics.