Devout Christian’s bid to succeed Sturgeon suffers 24-hour meltdown – with MSP backers rushing to drop her
SNP leadership front runner Kate Forbes suffered a spectacular meltdown today as she declared that sex outside marriage is ‘wrong’.
The Scottish Finance Secretary’s campaign to succeed Nicola Sturgeon appears dead in the water just 24 hours after it began, in the wake of a series of toe-curling interviews about her devout religious beliefs, according to some political pundits.
Ms Forbes already looked in trouble after admitting overnight that she would have voted against gay marriage.
And this afternoon the 32-year-old – who cut her maternity leave short to enter the contest – told Sky News that having children outside of wedlock is ‘something that I would seek to avoid’.
‘In terms of my faith, my faith would say that children – it says sex is for marriage. That’s the approach that I would practise,’ she said.
Ms Forbes insisted it was not an issue she was ‘fussed’ about, suggesting she would not ‘impose my views on other people’ and she ‘accepts’ family and friends who have made those ‘choices’.
But asked if having children outside marriage is wrong, she replied: ‘For me it would be wrong according to my faith.’
Even allies are admitting Ms Forbes has ‘f***ed it up’, with SNP activists regarded as socially liberal. A series of MSPs have announced they are dropping their support, along with Westminster MP Drew Hendry.
Ms Forbes could even face an internal SNP disciplinary probe after telling ITV Border: ‘I believe that a trans woman is a biological male who identifies as a woman.’
Party rules suggest that referring to trans women as ‘biological males’ can be classed as transphobic.
The MSP seemed to acknowledge this afternoon that her ambition could be thwarted, saying her campaign continues ‘at the moment’.
‘In a liberal society you can coexist and have these debates and discussions,’ she said. ‘I think it has brought to light a fascinating question at the heart of Scottish political discourse, which is, what does liberalism mean?
‘Have we become so illiberal that we cannot have these discussions, or are some people beyond the pale. Because if some people are beyond the pale then these are dark and dangerous days for Scotland.
‘I think this campaign will draw that out.’
The crumbling campaign leaves Health Secretary Humza Yousaf as the favourite to take over from Ms Sturgeon.
The meltdown leaves Health Secretary Humza Yousaf as favourite to take over from Sturgeon.
She said she would have voted against same-sex marriage if she had been an MSP at the time, but stressed she would defend people’s rights under the law as it stands.
Speaking on Times Radio this morning, Ms Forbes tried to smooth over the fallout from her opposition to gay marriage in principle.
‘I regret enormously the pain or hurt that has been caused because that was neither my intention, and I would seek forgiveness if that is how it’s come across,’ she said.
Ms Forbes added that she defends the rights of LGBT+ people to live ‘free of harassment, fear and prejudice’.
However, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Ms Forbes reiterated that she would have opposed same-sex marriage.
She compared her position to that of Angela Merkel, who agreed to a vote on the issue, opposed the change, but then implemented the will of the German Parliament.
Challenged that her campaign was all-but finished, Ms Forbes said: ‘Absolutely not. We have a large party membership, most of whom are not on Twitter.
‘I understand people have very strong views on these matters. I think the public are longing for politicians to answer straight questions with straight answers and that’s certainly what I’ve tried to do in the media yesterday. That doesn’t necessarily allow for much nuance.
‘My position on these matters is that I will defend to the hilt everybody’s rights in a pluralistic and tolerant society, to live and to love free of harassment and fear.’
Equal marriage was made legal in Scotland in 2014 with an overwhelming majority of 105 votes to 18, while Ms Forbes was not elected to Holyrood until the 2016 election.
Ms Forbes previously said she would not have voted for the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in its current form.
As she was on maternity leave, she did not participate in the final vote before the new year, but has been clear on her opposition since 2019.
She was one of 15 SNP politicians who publicly called on her party to delay the controversial proposals which make it easier for transgender people to self-identify as their chosen gender.
She said: ‘My concerns about self-ID have been well documented and I would have continued to have those concerns about self-ID.
‘It’s very difficult to talk hypothetically when it comes to a Bill but I think I would have struggled to support that self-ID element of the Gender Recognition Act.’
However, if she had voted against it, she would have been required to leave her position as Finance Secretary.
In another controversial intervention, Ms Forbes said the convicted transgender rapist who was initially placed in a female jail ‘is a man’.
Ms Sturgeon previously dodged questions over whether Isla Bryson, formerly known as Adam Graham, is a woman after the 31-year-old was found guilty of two sex attacks.
But speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Forbes said unequivocally that ‘no rapist can be a woman’ and that ‘Isla Bryson is a man’.
Mrs Forbes also accused her opponents of attacking her over her Christian beliefs ‘rather than competence, experience or vision’.
She said: ‘We need to be very careful that we are not saying in Scotland that you cannot hold public office, even the highest public office, if you are a member of a particular faith.
‘Or, you can hold public office, but you actually need to strip your faith out. That seems to me a very illiberal approach.
She added: ‘My approach is I’ve been open about faith, the influence of faith in my life.
‘But we appear to be able to have a Hindu in Number 10, is it beyond the pale to think we might have a Christian in Bute House?’
‘I would much rather engage in discussion with the UK Government about the amendments that need to be made than proceed with the challenge.’
Isla Bryson – formerly known as Andrew Graham – pictured outside court in Glasgow in January
Who is Humza Yousaf?
Talking to The Scotsman, Ms Forbes, who has been on maternity leave and away from frontline politics since early summer last year, said she would not have supported equal marriage as a ‘matter of conscience’ if she had been a member of parliament at the time.
She cited the example of Angela Merkel as a leader who voted on the matter ‘with her conscience’.
She said: ‘I would have voted, as a matter of conscience, along the lines of mainstream teaching in most major religions that marriage is between a man and a woman.
‘But I would have respected and defended the democratic choice that was made.
‘It is a legal right now and I am a servant of democracy, I am not a dictator.’
Ms Forbes also condemned the ‘illiberal discourse’ around her faith and how her religious views could impact her decisions as First Minister.
She is a member of the Free Church of Scotland and had previously said her faith did not impact her ability to serve as an MSP.
Mr Yousaf said he will ‘always fight for the equal rights of others’.
Asked what he thought of what Ms Forbes had to say on same sex marriage, Mr Yousaf told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: ‘It’s for her to defend her views, I’ve made my views very clear.
‘I think my track record on equality issues speaks loud and clear.
‘I’m a minority in this country, I have been my entire life and my rights don’t exist in some kind of vacuum, my rights are interdependent on other people’s rights and therefore I believe very firmly, in fact with every fibre in my being, that your equality is my equality, therefore I’ll always fight for the equal rights of others regardless of who they are.’
Who is SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes?
Kate Forbes is a leading member of Ms Sturgeon’s administration who is being tipped as the favourite to replace her.
The fluent Gaelic speaker became the Scottish government’s finance secretary in February 2020, the first woman to hold the post.
Kate Forbes married Alasdair MacLennan – a widower chimney sweep 10 years her senior – in July 2021.
Her husband, known as Ali, had three daughters – Rachael, Rebekah and Zara – with his Indian first wife Priya. She died in 2014, aged just 38.
Ms Forbes, 32, went on maternity leave last July – the first ever serving Scottish Cabinet secretary to do so – and gave birth to her daughter Naomi in August.
The daughter of missionaries, Ms Forbes spent much of her childhood in India.
She is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, sometimes known as the ‘Wee Frees’, which is opposed to gay marriage and believes there are few circumstances in which abortion is justified.
Ms Sturgeon’s government was accused of rushing through its controversial gender identity reforms before Christmas, while Ms Forbes remained on maternity leave, in order to prevent a potential revolt by the 32-year-old.
Who is Ash Regan?
Ashten “Ash” Regan, formerly Denham, is a 48-year-old mother of twins. She served as Minister for Community Safety from 2018 until 2022, when she stepped down in a protest over the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. She has been the MSP for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016. Regan was born in Glasgow, where her mother, a Protestant, and father, a Catholic, owned a kilt shop on Sauchiehall Street. Regan attended primary school in Scotland before her family moved to England, growing up in Biggar, Cumbria, and later Devon, where Regan attended a sixth form college. Regan attended Keele University from 1992 to 1995, gaining a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. She was writer for Concourse magazine, a student newspaper of the Keele University Students’ Union. She earned a diploma in public relations at the London School of Public Relations. In 2007, Regan studied Development Management at the Open University, gaining a Master of Science in 2012. Regan worked as a PR and Marketing Officer.
Regan joined Women for Independence and was active in the Yes Scotland campaign. In January 2014 she was elected to the national committee for Women for Independence. She recalled being “really passionate about Scotland becoming an independent country – I felt the arguments were really strong and I wanted Scotland to have more democratic choice”. Following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the referendum, Regan joined the Scottish National Party. In August 2015, she was selected as the SNP candidate for the Edinburgh Eastern constituency in the upcoming 2016 Scottish Parliament elections after the incumbent MSP Kenny MacAskill, had announced in June that he would not stand for re-election. She was elected, defeating the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Kezia Dugdale.
On 27 June 2018, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that she would perform a cabinet reshuffle of her second government. Sturgeon appointed Regan as the Minister for Community Safety, succeeding Annabelle Ewing. In April 2019, Regan was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter calling on the Scottish government to delay reform to the Gender Recognition Act, which would make it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender. Later that month, an exchange was leaked between Regan and fellow SNP MSPs Gillian Martin and Ruth Maguire, where they expressed frustration at Nicola Sturgeon and claimed she was out of step with the SNP group.
In June 2019, it was reported that a number of her ex-employees received pay-offs worth thousands of pounds and some signed non-disclosure agreements. In the 2021 Scottish elections, Regan was re-elected, this time increasing her vote share by more than 8,000. Sturgeon reappointed Regan as community safety minister in the third Sturgeon government. Regan, who declared her candidacy in the 2023 SNP leadership election, is considered the candidate that would represent the biggest change from Sturgeon. She said she would not introduce laws that would “[make] things more difficult for businesses” or “interfere with family life”. Politically, she would seek to introduce new laws to ensure all transgender women go to men’s prisons and all transgender men go to women’s prisons, suggesting “a trans wing on the prison estate”.
On independence, Regan says that instead of Sturgeon’s proposal to use the next Scottish Parliament or House of Commons election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence, she would begin negotiations with the UK government on independence the next time political parties supporting Scottish independence received more than half of the vote collectively in an election to either parliament. She wanted to slow down plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by phasing out extraction of oil and natural gas from the North Sea. She also committed to prioritising upgrading roads, including converting the A9 road to a dual carriageway faster than planned.