The race to succeed Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tightened after a week of wrangling over LGBTQ rights, the health service and where to go next in the push to break away from the rest of the UK.
(Bloomberg) — The race to succeed Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tightened after a week of wrangling over LGBTQ rights, the health service and where to go next in the push to break away from the rest of the UK.
As nominations closed for the post of Scottish National Party leader at noon on Friday, bookmakers continued to make Health Secretary Humza Yousaf the favorite. But his closest rival, Kate Forbes, who is responsible for finance and the economy in the semi-autonomous Scottish government, regained momentum after a setback over her stance on same-sex marriage.
Forbes, 32, had a bruising start to her campaign. Key SNP figures withdrew support after she said she would have opposed gay marriage because of her devout Christianity. Forbes is a member of the socially conservative Free Church of Scotland. Deputy First Minister John Swinney questioned whether someone with those views was fit to be leader.
Yousaf, 37, has faced criticism from opposition parties over the state of the health service on his watch, with a backlog of procedures and a jump in waiting times for ambulances and emergency care. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said he should be fired rather than promoted.
But it’s SNP members who ultimately decide in a ballot running until March 27. A poll by communications agency The Big Partnership reported across Scottish media found 28% backed Forbes and 20% for Yousaf. A third candidate, former minister Ash Regan, was on 7%. About one third of the roughly 1,000 respondents were undecided.Â
Whoever prevails will face a daunting task uniting a party behind its flagship policy of seeking independence for Scotland while trying to address a deterioration in the health service, education and the national finances.Â
Sturgeon, 52, unexpectedly quit on Feb. 15 saying it was time to pass on the baton after more than eight years in office. She leaves a country still roughly split down the middle on the issue of independence with no clear roadmap on how to move the needle.
The UK government is refusing to grant Scotland another referendum, which Sturgeon says is the nation’s democratic right after it voted against Brexit, and the Supreme Court ruled late last year that calling a plebiscite unilaterally would be unlawful. Her plan B was to turn the next UK general election into a de facto referendum, though both Yousaf and Forbes are likely to shelve that.
Bookmaker William Hill put Yousaf on 4/9 to win the leadership race, the odds narrowing over the past two days. Forbes is second on 5/2 with 48-year-old Regan the outsider on 4/1.
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