SNP leadership candidates Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf to face TV debate

The three candidates in the running to become the next SNP leader will face each other in a live TV debate next month.

Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf will be part of a 70-minute special on STV where they’ll face questions from the channel’s political editor Colin Mackay and be given the chance to grill each other on their plans for the party and the country.

Members of the public from across Scotland will also have their questions put to the contenders in the programme, which will air at 9pm on March 7.

BREAKING: Contenders to become the next First Minister will take part in live STV debate. https://t.co/ViHQ0NK0a7

— STV News (@STVNews) February 24, 2023

The announcements came as nominations to become Scotland’s next First Minister closed at noon on Friday, with candidates required to get at least 100 nominations from at least 20 local party branches to advance.

The SNP said: “With the 12pm deadline now past, we can confirm that all three declared candidates for the leadership of the SNP – Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf – have passed the threshold of nominations by at least 100 SNP members drawn from at least 20 SNP branches.”

Members will now be asked to vote using the single transferable vote (STV) system, with a winner announced on March 27.

Yousaf ‘honoured’ to be in the running

Yousaf, the current Health Secretary, said he was “honoured by the trust” SNP members had shown by nominating him to be the party’s next leader.

He pledged to set out more about his plans, including his “ambition for driving forward Scotland’s economy”, proposals to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and how to use “all the talents of the party to win independence”.

He promised to take his campaign to be the next first minister around Scotland, saying he would listen to SNP members in “every corner” of the country.

Honoured by the trust @theSNP members have placed in me by nominating me in the contest to be their next leader and First Minister.

I make a simple promise: I will be @theSNP Leader and First Minister that takes our movement over the line and achieves independence for Scotland. pic.twitter.com/RQ41E0BR3r

— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 24, 2023

Yousaf also said he was the only candidate running who could “protect our pro-independence majority government in Holyrood” as the Scottish Greens – who are in power with the SNP – remain committed to introducing gender recognition reforms, which both Regan and Forbes are opposed to.

He added: “As a minority in this country, I know how important it is to protect the rights of all. This is something I will not falter on.”

He said that if he is elected to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, he would “be a first minister for all of Scotland”.

He also promised party members: “I will be the SNP leader and first minister that takes our movement over the line and achieves independence for Scotland.

“We are within touching distance of that prize. It’s time for experience and unity to ensure that becomes reality.”

Forbes ‘burdened’ by hurt caused

The leadership campaign has so far focused mainly on the views of the candidates on social issues, with Finance Secretary Forbes coming under pressure to quit the race after saying she would not have voted in favour of equal marriage had she been in Holyrood in 2014, nor would she have voted for the Scottish Government’s gender reforms in December. She was on maternity leave at the time.

In an attempt to re-focus her campaign, Forbes said on Thursday that she had been “burdened” by the hurt her comments had caused.

She has also told how she wants to “lead Scotland into better days” – but also insisted the country must have tolerance as its “ruling ethic”.

She spoke out after a row over her religious views dominated the first week of campaigning in the race to succeed Sturgeon.

This election is about independence, who is best equipped, and who has the best plan to achieve it. It is also about the society we want Scotland to be – where tolerance is the ruling ethic, poverty becomes history, equality of opportunity is the birth right of every child. /1

— Kate Forbes MSP (@_KateForbes) February 23, 2023

Forbes suffered a backlash after she revealed she would not have voted for same-sex marriage. The Free Church of Scotland member also said that having children outside of marriage was “wrong”, according to her faith.

Writing in The Times newspaper, she said: “If anything can be said of me in the past week it is that I am willing to be honest and open, even at the cost of my leadership bid and my career.”

She said her “vision” for Scotland was to be “a country where tolerance is the ruling ethic, differences are welcomed, fairness is the norm”.

With the country at a “crossroads” following Sturgeon’s dramatic resignation, she said she had a “radical new vision to inspire hope and confidence in these difficult days”.

Regan pitches to be unity candidate

In the hours before the close of nominations, former Scottish Government minister  Regan officially launched her campaign, pitching herself as the unity candidate who would run a competent government while reaching out to the grassroots of the independence movement.

She also hit out at the current leadership of the SNP, saying Peter Murrell’s ultimate control over the contest to replace Sturgeon – his wife –  is a “conflict of interest”, and adding that the party has “lost our way” in recent years.

In the early days of his campaign,  Yousaf has proven to be the popular choice among elected members, with senior MSPs such as Shirley-Anne Somerville, Jenny Gilruth, Maree Todd and Neil Gray – who ruled out his own bid for the top job – pledging their support.

Forbes had gained endorsements from ministers Tom Arthur and Clare Haughey, among others, before her comments prompted a rethink.

However, she retains the support of business minister Ivan McKee and senior SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing.

Regan’s public support among senior party figures has thus far been limited to MP and fellow SNP rebel Joanna Cherry, who introduced her at her North Queensferry campaign launch.

Speaking in North Queensferry on Friday, Regan pitched herself as the unity candidate in the hours before nominations close.

Dear Independence Supporters,

My open letter to you…

-Ash pic.twitter.com/8FapJL883Y

— Ash Regan MSP (@AshReganSNP) February 24, 2023

Regan also declared herself to be the candidate of competent government, claiming the party had “lost our way” in recent years.

Regan’s comments come after she had called for calm in the leadership race, asking members to stop “mudslinging” after the backlash received by Forbes following her comments on social issues.

“Our campaign is built on hope, optimism and a belief in the power of our people,” she said.

“The truth is that our movement has been divided for far too long by petty differences and personal agendas.

“But we can’t afford to let these differences tear us apart any longer and we must come together as one united force for Scotland because the challenges facing our country are too great for us to face them if we are divided.”