New leader’s challenge.. to unite country
The competition for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s job will give a fascinating insight into what SNP members think about the key issues tearing their party apart.
Two very different candidates – rebel former minister Ash Regan and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf – have today launched their bids in the Sunday Mail.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes looks almost certain to join the contest. But sources have suggested Angus Robertson, Keith Brown and Màiri McAllan may not run after claims that powerbrokers John Swinney and the outgoing leader indicated privately they would back Yousaf.
The winner wi l l be decided by SNP members – an unknown number whose views on everything other than independence remain something of a mystery.
The NHS is on its knees, education standards are plunging, thousands of public sector workers are striking and major infrastructure projects, including roads and ferries, are years behind schedule.
These are the things the wider Scottish electorate desperately want to see addressed.
But the debate is likely to focus on the controversial gender recognition reforms (GRR) and the fight for independence.
Yousaf has vowed to fight for his mentor’s GRR Bill despite its unpopularity with the public and losing a court battle with the UK Government to get it on to the statute book.
He is the clear continuity candidate and so close to Sturgeon you can almost hear her voice in his pitch for power.
Yousaf would retain her policy agenda and coalition with the Greens while hoping to build long-term support for independence with his self- declared key strength of “reaching across the divide”.
We wi l l soon know how many SNP members are diehard Sturgeonites who back this business- as-usual strategy or if they want something new.
Regan, who defied the First Minister and left government in protest at the GRR Bill, wants to dump it entirely. She has also promised to refocus the Scottish Government away from cumbersome new laws and on to the economy and job creation, and also being open to working with Alex Salmond’s Alba Party via an independence convention.
The SNP is facing plunging poll ratings – both for independence and up-and-coming elections – and a fresh face with fresh ideas is likely to appeal to many voters.
That could be Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, who would also more than likely reject GRR. How far she would further deviate from Sturgeon’s style of government and policy platform, however, is unclear.
Bookies’ favourite Robertson has been keeping a low profile and appears to be struggling to gain the support to run. McAllan, meanwhile, has suggested she is keen to stand but has yet to declare.
The winner will have to reunite the SNP and build support for independence.
But their most important job will be to rally the country around a vision for the future which we can all believe in after years of division, economic decline and failing public services.