Nicola Sturgeon's successor as leader of the SNP to be announced today

27 March 2023 , 07:15

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Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan (Image: PA)

Nicola Sturgeon successor as leader of the SNP and Scottish First Minister will be announced TODAY - after a bitter five-week contest to replace her.

In a shock announcement last month Ms Sturgeon stunned voters and said she would resign from the role she has held more than eight years.

The outgoing SNP leader said she was passing over the baton in the country's "final" push for independence.

But it set up a leadership race exposing deep divisions within the SNP, leaving the party without an instantly recognisable figure at the helm.

An estimated 80,000 SNP members will have until midday to vote for the new leader.

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Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan have taken part in around 16 hustings.

Bookies have positioned Mr Yousaf as the favourite in the contest.

But polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice has made clear there has only been limited polling of SNP members, who will ultimately decide the contest.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon awaits the start of her last session of First Minister's Questions (Getty Images)

Writing earlier this month, he said: "It looks as though there is plenty to play for; that perhaps SNP members may be somewhat more inclined than SNP voters to back Mr Yousaf rather than Ms Forbes; but that maybe everything could turn on the unknown second preferences of Ms Regan's supporters."

Ms Forbes, a member of the Free Church of Scotland, faced an intense backlash early on in the contest for her views on same-sex marriage.

She immediately lost some of her high-profile support after saying she would not have voted for equal marriage if an MSP at the time.

Mr Yousaf's record as Scotland's Health Secretary has also come under scrutiny during the contest to replace Ms Sturgeon.

During a televised debate earlier this month Ms Forbes told him: "Humza you've had a number of jobs in Government. When you were transport minister the trains were never on time. When you were justice minister the police were strained to breaking point.

"And now as Health minister we've got record high waiting times".

The fate of the three candidates will be revealed at around 2pm on Monday at the BT Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh.

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Ms Sturgeon is then expected to formally tender her resignation as Scottish First Minister with a vote to confirm her successor at Holyrood on Tuesday.

The Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar urged whichever candidate to call a snap election at Holyrood, saying the new SNP leader would lack a mandate.

He said: "If you look at what Nicola Sturgeon said when Rishi Sunak came to power without an election, she said it was a democratic imperative for him to have a mandate.

"This is an SNP that screams about mandates - let's be honest, the next SNP first minister will not have the mandate.

Ashley Cowburn