TOM PETERKIN

Kate Forbes received many plaudits for taking on the Scottish Budget with just a few hours’ notice after Derek Mackay’s fall from grace.

Her adroit handling of the situation was the only silver lining for the SNP on a horrendous day for Nicola Sturgeon. Therefore it would have been a surprise had Ms Forbes not found herself promoted to finance secretary in place of Mr Mackay.

Her appointment as Scotland’s first female finance secretary means most of Ms Sturgeon’s Cabinet – seven out of 12 – are now women.

The Cambridge University graduate will also bring youthful ability to government. Born in 1990, she is the youngest ever Cabinet secretary in the twodecade history of devolution.

She has, however, inherited an uninspiring budget.

Her next task is to win enough support for it to go through parliament. This could prove tricky given the SNP’S traditional bedfellows, the Greens, object to road projects on the A9 and A96.

Now that she has one of the highest profile jobs in the country, Ms Forbes, a committed Christian, is also likely to find her views on “trans” issues scrutinised by LGBT activists and her pro-life views will also be criticised by abortion rights campaigners.

As part of the first minister’s mini-reshuffle, the economy and fair work part of the finance secretary’s portfolio has been transferred to Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s brief.

That appointment will raise a few eyebrows.

Until Keith Brown stood down from government in June 2018, the economy portfolio had its own dedicated Cabinet secretary.

Running big infrastructure projects like the delayed and overpriced Calmac ferries as well as managing economic underperformance are likely to be part of Ms Hyslop’s new role.

Just how well Ms Hyslop will cope with such demanding challenges remains to be seen, but they seem an uneasy fit with the culture brief.

Moreover, there will be those who remember Ms Hyslop’s struggles when in charge of the notoriously difficult education brief.

In 2009 she was demoted from Alex Salmond’s Cabinet when it looked certain she would lose a no confidence motion at Holyrood.