SNP seeks new “face of independence”
Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation as Scotland’s first minister may have come as a “surprise to just about everyone in Scottish politics”, but her Bute House speech was clearly not “drafted at the last minute”, says Glenn Campbell on the BBC. After more than eight years in the role, to many she had become “the face of Scottish independence”. Recently, however, her reputation has taken “a nosedive” and she had been “losing her once iron grip on the SNP”, says Chris Deerin in The New Statesman. Many of her “travails” were “selfinflicted”, such as her unpopular and “ill-considered gender legislation” which was blocked by Westminster. Public services including health and education remain “steadfastly unreformed”. The SNP has also become “bitterly divided about the most effective path to securing independence”, with many party members believing that her plan to treat the next general election as a “de facto” referendum will “set the cause back by years”.
The SNP is due to meet next month to discuss whether this is a good idea and Sturgeon’s successor is likely to lead the party into the general election, says Adam Forrest in The Independent. One of the frontrunners for the position is Kate Forbes, the 32-year-old finance secretary who is currently on maternity leave.
Since she went on leave last August, her “nimble intellect, political courage and impressive confidence… have been notable by their absence”, says Deerin. Despite her youth, she has “showed steel” in demanding departmental spending cuts, bringing an “accountant’s rigour” to the government’s “hosepipe approach to public money”. She is also “committed to achieving independence” and, although her evangelical Christianity and perceived social conservatism may be obstacles, she is “far from the Tory-lite politician that some on the party’s left try and paint her as”. To my mind, she is the “outstanding candidate”.