SNP leadership race: Outbreak of internecine party warfare could be a historic moment for Scotland – Scotsman comment

A week ago, The Scotsman suggested that a joint leadership bid by Kate Forbes and Angus Robertson could be one way to unify the various factions within the SNP.

However, as someone, possibly Harold Wilson, once said “a week is a long time in politics”. Seven days on, Robertson has ruled himself out and, although Forbes is leading the field in polls of SNP supporters, her campaign has been engulfed in uproar over her views on same-sex marriages and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

If Forbes or rival candidate Ash Regan are elected leader, then their opposition to the gender bill could put the current deal with the Scottish Greens at risk, potentially turning the two parties’ majority administration into a minority SNP one, and perhaps even forcing an early Holyrood election.

But that’s not all. Such is the strength of feeling over the issue that both may also struggle to keep their own party together. The SNP has always been a ‘broad church’, but schisms can happen. And when Nicola Sturgeon, no less, claimed those raising objections to the gender bill included people who were not just “transphobic” but also “deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist”, she made clear just how deep the division truly is.

Under Sturgeon, the SNP was famous for its strict discipline. But the effective removal of her guiding, some would say controlling, hand has allowed long-suppressed arguments to break out in public.

This could make some party members look to the so-called ‘continuity candidate’, Humza Yousaf, to calm things down and keep everyone focussed on the common goal of independence. However, given his decidedly lacklustre record as a minister, unionist parties may relish the prospect of facing him at First Minister’s Questions, rather than Forbes, whose grasp of economics could make her a more formidable opponent.

It is extraordinary that the resignation of Sturgeon has created such a volatile situation in such a short period of time. It now appears that Scotland stands at a historic crossroads and whoever SNP members choose as their next leader could have a profound effect on this country’s future for years to come, but possibly not in a way they would like.

However, whether or not that remains the case a week from now is anybody’s guess.