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Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation has prompted a search for her successor as both SNP leader and Scottish first minister.
The first minister said on Wednesday she was stepping down for long-term reasons and not because of short-term pressures – but said the row over gender recognition reform was not behind her decision to quit.
But the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) has been a high-profile issue in Scottish politics in recent months, and the SNP are far from united on the matter. Here’s the run-down on the positions of the most likely candidates.
John Swinney
(PA Wire)
John Swinney, currently Scotland’s deputy first minister, voted for gender recognition reform along with the rest of the Scottish government.
While education minister he also expressed support for making Scotland the “first country in the world” to have LGBT-inclusive education embedded in its school curriculum.
Humza Yousaf
(PA Wire)
Humza Yousaf, currently Scotland’s health minister, has been tipped as a possible successor to Ms Sturgeon. Like his government colleagues, he voted in favour of the GRA reforms in December.
Angus Robertson
(PA Archive)
Angus Robertson, a former Westminster MP who is now an MSP, serves as the Scottish governemnt’s constitution secretary. In common with other members of the government, he voted for GRA reform.
He has said he supports the legislation and that is “a source of considerable regret that the issue of gender recognition reform has become so polarised and plagued with misinformation”.
Kate Forbes
(Getty Images)
Kate Forbes, an evangelical Christian, has expressed doubt about the GRA reforms, as well as on abortion.
Though a member of the government, she was on maternity leave during the GRA vote and so did not take part.
However, in 2019 she was one of 15 SNP politicians to call for the plans to be delayed and as recently as December 2022 said the governemnt risked creating a “bad law”.
