With only a day to go until voting for the next SNP leader starts, candidates don’t have long left to convince members to back them. So perhaps it’s little wonder that tensions are running high. The favourite for the contest Humza Yousaf has secured the backing of John Swinney, with the Deputy First Minister publicly endorsing Yousaf this weekend as his preferred candidate for SNP leader.
Nicola Sturgeon has said she will not endorse a candidate but as Swinney is her close ally the move has raised eyebrows – particularly given the timing. While Humza Yousaf’s team describe the ‘unstoppable momentum’ building behind their candidate, with Yousaf telling the BBC’s Sunday Show that ‘anybody would bite John Swinney’s hand off for that endorsement’, Kate Forbes’s campaign are less than thrilled.
Releasing their statement in response to Swinney’s ‘intervention’ in the contest Forbes’s backer, Michelle Thomson MSP, said that this latest move shows ‘that senior figures in the party have seen the polls and are absolutely panicking.’
She continued:
Given how close we are to the vote opening, many party members will look upon this 11th hour intervention rather cynically. They don’t need to be told by party HQ what to think or how to vote. It increasingly looks like the top brass would much prefer an establishment transfer of power – to carry on with the status quo – rather than allowing our membership the freedom to make a healthy democratic choice.
Is this another sign that the SNP establishment is trying to outstep Forbes ahead of voting opening on Monday? Swinney has certainly been biding his time, waiting until the contest’s penultimate day to declare for a candidate. And he’s not the only one. Only hours earlier, Stephen Flynn MP – SNP Westminster leader, gave his backing to Yousaf, using language almost identical to that used by Yousaf later in the day at Glasgow’s hustings, saying: ‘The public are crying out for hope right now, and I believe Humza is best placed to offer that hope.’
And what do the members think? The hustings at Strathclyde University highlighted the Glasgow membership’s clear preference for Yousaf. All charm and charisma, he flexed his personal knowledge of who many of the audience members were and his answers were cheered a number of times. But to his fellow opponents, while friendly on the surface, he directed some veiled attacks with comments on who ‘truly reflects the majority values of the Scottish people’, which seemed to hint at the religious beliefs Kate Forbes holds.
There remain questions about whether his supporters within the party are as confident though, and an Ash Regan campaign source told The Herald that the SNP’s HQ were ‘bussing’ his supporters to hustings events because they’re ‘scared’ he may lose the race. Both Forbes and Regan have made comments throughout the contest about ‘serial hustings attendees’ as they spot repeat attendances by certain members. ‘It is important that the wider membership should have full trust in the transparency of this process,’ Regan told press on Thursday, while both Yousaf and Forbes have expressed confidence in the integrity of the contest.
Meanwhile Kate Forbes been working on ‘mini-manifesto’ for the SNP leadership race which she has launched today, the timing perhaps indicative of a retaliation to Yousaf recent endorsements. In what could be seen as another dig at Yousaf’s track record, Forbes says about her manifesto release: ‘We need a First Minister who the people of Scotland can trust. No one can accuse me of not delivering.’
Today’s poll by Survation has revealed that Scottish voters from across all parties rate her as the top candidate on key issues including the economy, education and the NHS. It certainly appears that, in the eyes of the wider public, Kate Forbes remains a strong candidate.
Are the SNP establishment getting fidgety at just how close Yousaf and Forbes seem to be in the polls? It’s certainly possible, particularly as it is thought that Ash Regan’s supporters are more likely to put Forbes as their second preference than Yousaf. The race is clearly close enough that Yousaf and his supporters don’t want to take any chances.
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