It’s less than a week since Humza Yousaf triumphed in the SNP leadership election by less than 2,500 votes and already his tactical wizardry is bearing fruit. Yousaf’s first decision on taking at Bute House was to humiliate Kate Forbes, the woman who took on and almost defeated the entire party machine, by offering her the job of Rural Affairs – a significant demotion from Finance Secretary. She instead quit the government with her replacement, Shona Robison, rubbing salt in the wound by suggesting Forbes told Yousaf that she wanted to spend more time with her family.
Such suggestions have clearly irked Forbes, who has come out fighting in an interview with the Holyrood Sources podcast. She said she had wanted to remain as Finance Secretary – a job she ‘absolutely loved and could do well’ – and noted drily that she waved ‘goodbye’ to a better work-life balance the moment she launched her campaign to be leader. Forbes also took the chance to take another pop at her party’s partners in government whom she said ‘were pretty delighted with Monday’s result’ given her criticisms of ‘the fault lines that exist between the SNP and the Greens.’ She noted that Rural Affairs would have brought significant ‘challenges’ for her owing to her reservations about the introduction of highly protected marine areas in which fishing is banned.
Elsewhere the Herald on Sunday reports that a group of 15 rebel SNP MSPs will be snubbing Yousaf by publishing their own policy papers. This is in spite of the spirit of the party’s infamous 2015 rule change to ensure that no MPs shall ‘publicly criticise a group decision, policy or another member of the group’. The paper reports that the new group’s ‘members are understood to be mostly parliamentarians who backed the former Finance Secretary’s leadership bid.’ Looks like it wasn’t a good idea for Yousaf to try to freeze out Forbes and her supporter Ivan McKee by offering them more minor roles in his ministerial reshuffle.
No wonder he has already earned himself a new nickname: the Farce Minister.
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