A year is a long time in politics. Just over 12 months ago, Kate Forbes MSP was made Deputy First Minister of Scotland when John Swinney took the reins from Humza Yousaf. This morning, with less than a year to go until the 2026 Holyrood election – and after the SNP had finalised its candidate list – Forbes has announced she no longer plans to stand at the Scottish parliament election.
While Forbes has claimed her turnaround is down to family reasons, others aren’t convinced
In a letter she has shared on social media, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic has informed Swinney that ‘after careful thought over the summer recess’ she will not stand again for the Highland constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch. Forbes, who has a two-year-old, added that:
Quite rightly this job entails long days far from home, constant attention and total dedication. As I consider the upcoming election and the prospects of another term, I have concluded that I do not wish to seek re-election and miss any more of the precious early years of family life.
Forbes’s announcement is significant: she ran for the leadership contest after Nicola Sturgeon stepped down in early 2023, and while she came a close second to continuity candidate Humza Yousaf, she had been expected to go for the top job again. Even after Yousaf’s election, her campaign team – slightly depleted after the furore caused by Forbes’s religious views – remained intact and were considering their next moves. Although Swinney has said that he plans to stay on as First Minister for the next parliamentary term, there has been much discussion about who his successor may be. Forbes was expected to be a contender, alongside Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and housing secretary Mairi McAllan.
The timing is interesting: the SNP finalised its candidate list three months ago, which saw Forbes as one of 37 MSPs selected to stand again. Pulling out with nine months to go is not ideal for a party that is 15 points behind where it was in 2021 and in need of improving its ground campaign efforts. It’s a shock to those who previously supported Forbes’s leadership campaign, with one insider explicit in their surprise: ‘No one expected this, and I’m not sure why she arrived at this decision.’
While Forbes has claimed her turnaround is down to family reasons, others aren’t convinced that’s the full picture. She represented a decreasing group in the SNP with socially conservative views and her pro-growth agenda hasn’t always gone down well with some of her more left-wing colleagues. Some have suggested that the late announcement shows a lack of faith in Swinney’s leadership. Others wonder whether the post-2026 makeup of the group – with 15 councillors and 10 ex-MPs standing for election – looks to push the party further from Forbes’s values.
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