Scots want Forbes over Swinney for First Minister, polling finds

‘Evidence suggests Forbes may have wider appeal among the electorate than Swinney’

‘I know there is a groundswell of support for me amongst the members’

SCOTS want Kate Forbes as their next First Minister despite SNP voters preferring John Swinney, according to the first poll conducted since Humza Yousaf announced his resignation on Monday.

The Ipsos survey found 26 per cent of voters named Ms Forbes as their preferred option when presented with a list of possible candidates, compared with 20 per cent for Mr Swinney.

But 30 per cent of SNP supporters said Mr Swinney was their top candidate and only 21 per cent named Ms Forbes. They also believed he was more likely to do a good job.

In a further humiliation for Mr Yousaf, 81 per cent of Scots said he was right to resign and 51 per cent said he had made no difference to life in Scotland as First Minister.

The poll was published after Ms Forbes dropped her strongest hint yet that she will stand in the SNP leadership contest, disclosing she had received a “groundswell of support”. The former Scottish finance secretary publicly confirmed for the first time that she was “weighing up” running for SNP leader and First Minister.

She stood in last year’s contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon, only losing to Mr Yousaf by a margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent despite the party establishment backing him.

Although she praised Mr Swinney, who was deputy first minister in Ms Sturgeon’s government, she argued that Mr Yousaf’s successor should not be crowned without a contest.

Ms Forbes told Sky News that SNP members “need to be behind the next leader” and the selection process must take account of their views – something that may not happen with a coronation.

Her allies also pleaded with her to put her name forward, warning the SNP needs to “look outside the bubble” by selecting the candidate who is most popular with all voters rather than just party members.

Mr Swinney, 60, is the clear favourite to win what would be his second stint as leader, with party grandees quickly lining up behind him. But he has faced accusations of being “yesterday’s man” after playing a prominent role in Alex Salmond’s and Ms Sturgeon’s governments. He was also a failure in his first stint as leader, between 2000 and 2004.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos in Scotland, said: “The SNP will be looking to select a leader who can unite the party, secure cooperation from opposition parties so that laws and budgets can be passed and reverse the party’s slide in the polls. While Swinney may be better placed than Forbes to address the first two of those, on the third point the evidence suggests that Forbes may currently have wider appeal among the electorate than Swinney does.”

Speaking as MSPS returned to Holyrood for the first time since Mr Yousaf resigned, Ms Forbes said: “I am obviously still weighing up all my options.

“I know there is a groundswell of support for me amongst the members. That was quite clear in the last contest, which I know you followed very closely.”

Pressed whether it would be a “stitch-up” if she was pressured not to stand and Mr Swinney was crowned, Ms Forbes said: “I think that the membership need to be behind the next leader and the process needs to reflect that.”

Mr Swinney said he was also still weighing up whether to stand but rejected the “yesterday’s man” jibe, saying “people have always got a contribution to make”.