Who is Kate Forbes? The bold, Highland Christian who could replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader

Kate Forbes has been touted as a potential future SNP leader after narrowly missing out to Humza Yousaf in last year’s leadership race. But will her time come now as the First Minister contemplates stetting down?

Kate Forbes, who came second in the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon last year, had previously voiced doubts about the Bute House Agreement, which brought the Greens into the Scottish Government in 2021.

Humza Yousaf’s decision to scrap the partnership deal with the Greens on Thursday last week has now left his leadership hanging by a thread. But as Ms Forbes looms as a potential candidate to replace him as First Minister, who is the former finance secretary - and could she be suited to the challenge of leading Scotland?

Who is Kate Forbes?

Ms Forbes’s original rise into the ranks of Nicola Sturgeon’s Cabinet was swift. She was appointed finance secretary in February 2020, less than four years after being elected MSP for Skye, Badenoch and Lochaber. Her status as a star of the SNP solidified in the months that followed.

Ms Forbes, 34, has won some degree of admiration for her intellectual capacity and political courage, not least in light of her review in 2022 in which she pledged to rein in Scottish Government spending. A former accountant with Barclays, she vowed to cut departmental overheads, ‘re-set’ the public sector and deliver a financial plan that analysts suggested would shred budgets for local government and other key areas such as police, prisons, justice and universities by a real term equivalent of £1.1 billion over four years.

One commentator dubbed Ms Forbes, who has been widely liked by politicians of all colours at Holyrood, as a “Tartan Thatcher” as a result.

Ms Forbes, a fluent Gaelic speaker, remained on maternity leave when she entered the leadership content to replace Ms Sturgeon last year. Her daughter had been born in August 2022. Some had suggested at the time her ability for fair-minded negotiation was being missed by both business in Scotland and the UK Treasury.

While at home with her family in Dingwall, Ms Forbes, whose husband Ali MacLellan is part-owner of a chimney sweep and wood burning stove firm, swerved the hugely damaging row over the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill.

After coming second to Humza Yousaf in the bid to succeed Ms Sturgeon, winning 48 per cent of the overall vote, Ms Forbes on Friday urged colleagues to back the First Minister in coming votes of no confidence.

However, she is understood to be preparing for a fresh leadership bid, in the event Mr Yousaf resigns.

What religion is Kate Forbes?

Ms Forbes did not vote on the GRR legislation, which would have directly tested the balance between her deeply held religious beliefs – she is a member of the Free Church of Scotland – and her loyalty as a minister in a Government that has striven to be socially progressive. Ms Forbes was one of 15 senior SNP politicians who signed a letter in 2019 calling for the Government not to “rush” into gender reform legislation.

Ms Forbes later said she would have voted against gay marriage “as a matter of conscience” if she had been a member of Parliament at the time.

The position, outlined in the opening days of last year’s election campaign, prompted heavy criticism from both outside and inside the SNP, with SNP Westminster deputy leader Mhairi Black going as far to say she had been left “incredibly hurt” by Ms Forbes same-sex marriage comments.

In 2018, Ms Forbes’s pro-life views were aired at a National Prayer Breakfast for Scotland when she told an audience the treatment of the “unborn” was a “measure of true progress”.

However, the way Ms Forbes, who was raised between Dingwall and India, where her parents worked as missionaries, has spoken freely about her religious beliefs has also won her favour. In January last year, she spoke of the need for more intelligent and informed debate in Scottish politics and the wish for more tolerance in an increasingly polarised landscape.

She said: “Tolerance can only exist between people who fundamentally disagree with each other. To preach tolerance means you must be willing to speak to and be open to views you do not share. Tolerance cannot exist when everyone agrees, so if anyone cares about tolerance in the Scotland of 2022, then we need to be comfortable debating and discussing challenging issues with people who fundamentally disagree with us.”

These very hopes and sentiments were echoed by Ms Sturgeon in her resignation speech.