Kate Forbes suggests Humza Yousaf lacks 'big vision' for Scotland

The former finance secretary also indicated she will likely run for the SNP leadership again

Kate Forbes has suggested Humza Yousaf lacks a “big vision” for the country, as she indicated she would run for the SNP leadership again “if the opportunity arises”.

The former finance secretary narrowly lost to Mr Yousaf in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon last year, but is still seen by many as a potential future leader.

Speaking at a special Holyrood Sources podcast event to mark 25 years of devolution, she emphasised the importance of having a “big vision”.

Kate Forbes at SNP leadership hustings on March 12, 2023 in Aberdeen. (Photo by Craig Brough-Pool/Getty Images)

The event at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms had earlier heard from three former first ministers: Alex Salmond, Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale and Henry McLeish.

Ms Forbes said: “What is the big vision for the next 25 years? We will have different views but there was a big vision that was shared this evening by each of the first ministers that we heard from. They had a big vision.

“And I think all of us need to be enthused and inspired by what the current big vision is. And for individuals who are working there, we too need to be enthused because if we're not, then there are alternative jobs.”

Asked if the current First Minister had a big vision, Ms Forbes said: “Well I think we are going through a challenging time and if I can answer that in a diplomatic fashion then I would say that it is a particularly difficult time because, to my mind, a lot of those solutions to those big issues, I think, are not currently within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Now, that’s not an excuse not to deal with things.”

She added: “At a time of crisis, people need to be inspired. They need to be inspired by leadership, they need to be inspired by the thought that things are going to get better. And this is going to be a challenging year all round. And I certainly think, as much as I back the party and the current First Minister, we can only win elections if you have a big vision we can get behind.”

Ms Forbes said she previously ran to be SNP leader “because I felt like I did have a vision and I had an appetite for change, and I still think I’ve got a vision and I still think I’ve got an appetite for change”.

She added: “So what I repeatedly said over the last year is I’m very content on the backbenches. But if the opportunity arises – and there is no opportunity right now – if the opportunity arises and it’s the right thing for the country, for the party and for my family, then I wouldn’t rule it out.

"But that’s because I still believe that Scotland can change, and for as long as I believe in the people of this country and our potential to be more prosperous and to reduce poverty, that will remain my vision.”

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said Ms Forbes’s comments were “utterly humiliating for Humza Yousaf and for the whole of the SNP on the eve of his first anniversary as leader”.

He said: “Kate Forbes is correct to highlight Humza Yousaf’s lack of vision – the same criticism levelled at him last month by Audit Scotland over his running of our NHS.

“During his 12 months in charge, the crises in our health service and classrooms have worsened, he’s imposed a devastating tax-and-axe budget, ditched a series of failing flagship policies, cosied up to the anti-growth Greens, displayed appalling judgement in standing by his disgraced pal Michael Matheson and continued to divide the country by doubling down on the SNP’s independence obsession.

“It’s clear Humza Yousaf is out of his depth and, in his own words, ‘winging it’ as First Minister.”

However, Ms Forbes later denied her remarks were critical of Mr Yousaf.

Writing on social media, she said: “If you read my remarks you’ll note they weren’t a criticism of the First Minister. Of course we need a big vision to inspire voters, especially during tough times. The one we share is to build a prosperous economy and improve lives, ultimately through independence.”

Elsewhere, rebel SNP backbencher Fergus Ewing predicted Alex Salmond’s Alba Party would be the “big beneficiary” of the 2026 Holyrood election.

He said the SNP will suffer if it remains in a co-operation agreement with the Greens, adding: “Ironically, the big beneficiary of the 2026 election – this is my theory, you heard it from me first – will be Alex Salmond and the Alba Party, because lots of people who strongly support independence but don’t want the Greens are going to go for Alba.”

Liz Smith, a long-serving Tory MSP, said politics had become “toxic” both north and south of the border.

She told the event: “It’s to do partly with some of the flaws within the Holyrood system, which I think are causing great damage to our parliamentary democracy.

“But I also think that there is an issue about a lack of experience within quite a number of MSPs now. I also think on top of that, I think social media has got a place to take the blame as well, because the standard of debate in the time that I’ve been in [the parliament], which is now 17 years, I think it has deteriorated and one of the reasons that the standard of debate has deteriorated is because of the influence of social media.

“People having to make a quick comment, often a nasty comment, about another politician, not about the actual substance of what has been debated.”