Scottish Finance Minister Kate Forbes has announced that she would participate in the race for the position of Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and first minister, succeeding Nicola Sturgeon.
After Nicola Sturgeon’s abrupt resignation in February 2023, Kate Forbes, who was chosen to represent Scotland in the Scottish Parliament in 2016 and appointed finance secretary in 2020, has entered the race for the third time.
Nicola Sturgeon’s abrupt resignation has cast doubt on the SNP’s drive for independence. The Westminster administration has thwarted her attempts to organise another poll after Scotland rejected independence in a 2014 referendum by a margin of 55% to 45%.
32-year-old Kate Forbes said in a video shared on Twitter, “I can’t sit back and watch as our country’s progress towards self-determination is impeded.”
“We require a courageous, energetic, daring leader, open to new challenges, and fresh-faced. Someone who inspires both the confidence of the Scots to vote for a better future and your confidence as a Scottish National Party member. That leader is me,” she remarked further.
The SNP has announced that a vote among its members, which will end on March 27, will elect a new leader within six weeks. Nicola Sturgeon will continue serving until a replacement has been chosen.
Before being elected to office, Kate Forbes, a native speaker of Gaelic who studied history at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, worked as a banker’s accountant.
Kate Forbes was one of the prominent lawmakers that advised the Scottish government not to enact gender equality legislation right away in 2019.
Both former minister Ash Regan and health minister Humza Yousaf have declared their intention to vie for Nicola Sturgeon’s position.
Two potential candidates, former party deputy leader and cultural minister Angus Robertson, 53, and deputy first minister John Swinney, 58, have disqualified themselves.