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Kate Forbes tells Sky News she is considering running to replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader, as John Swinney – another potential candidate – says the SNP must “come together”.
Tuesday 30 April 2024 19:00, UK
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Kate Forbes narrowly lost out to Humza Yousaf in last year’s SNP leadership contest.
Ms Forbes has told Sky News she is considering entering the race again in the wake of Mr Yousaf’s resignation.
The former finance secretary faced backlash during her campaign last year after admitting she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland when it was made legal a decade ago.
The Free Church of Scotland member also told Sky News that having children out of marriage is “wrong” and something she would “seek to avoid”.
However, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch stressed that “in a free society you can do what you want”.
Ms Forbes had argued that “continuity won’t cut it”.
After losing to Mr Yousaf by 48% to 52%, she said: “If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust.”
Ms Forbes turned down the role of rural affairs minister, which at the time was seen as a demotion.
Although her views on social issues remain unpopular with some of her MSP colleagues, she was one of the few SNP ministers who did not delete her WhatsApp messages during the COVID pandemic.
Ms Forbes would face resistance from the Scottish Greens, who have previously ruled out working with her.
SNP colleague Fergus Ewing is backing Ms Forbes, saying she is “head and shoulders” above any other potential candidate.
With Humza Yousaf stepping down as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, Scotland reporter Jenness Mitchell takes a look at some of the potential candidates that could throw their hat into the ring to take the top job.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today, reiterating the need for increased aid supplies to Gaza.
In a read-out of the call, a spokesman said: “They discussed the current hostage negotiations, and the prime minister expressed his solidarity with the hostage families and hope that the negotiations are concluded to allow hostages to return home as soon as possible.
“The prime minister welcomed Israel’s commitment to increasing the flows of aid into Gaza. He reiterated the urgency and importance of continuing to get much more aid in and emphasised there needed to be greater access to facilitate these deliveries, including via the vital land routes.
“The UK continued to push for an immediate humanitarian pause to allow more aid in and hostages out.
“The prime minister reiterated the UK’s support for Israel’s security and said our focus is on de-escalation which is essential and in everyone’s interest.”
The week has kicked off with a huge political story – the resignation of Humza Yousaf – and will end with another, as voters across England and Wales turn out for the local elections.
Sky’s political reporter Alexandra Rogers has looked ahead to a potentially defining night for Rishi Sunak’s premiership, when hundreds of council seats, police and crime commissioner jobs, and mayoral posts will be up for grabs.
Read her full explainer below:
Hate preachers could be banned from coming to the UK in a bid to clamp down on people “spewing vile extremism”.
The move was first mooted last month in the wake of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning about a rise in extremism.
A new taskforce will be set up to identify prominent extremists overseas in a bid to stop them being granted visas, the Home Office announced today.
Hate preachers and extremists will be automatically referred to the Home Office for review, which could lead to visas being cancelled or refused if they attempt to travel to the UK.
Typically used against people who pose a security threat, the decisions would be made under the Home Secretary’s power to exclude people from entering the country on the basis this would be “conducive to the public good”.
Organisations based in the country trying to sponsor visas for those considered to be extremists could have their licence to do so revoked, meaning they can no longer request visas, according to the department.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the work would prevent foreign extremists from coming to the UK to “spread their vile narratives” while Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said there was “no place in the UK” for people who spread hate.
He added: “We will not apologise for defending our country’s fundamental values and principles.
“This new taskforce will help to do exactly that.”
The Sky News live poll tracker – collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team – aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.
With the local election campaign well under way, Labour is still sitting comfortably ahead, with the Tories trailing behind.
See the latest update below – and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker here.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf resigned yesterday in the face of two confidence votes after he dramatically brought the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens to an end last week.
How did we get here?
The Bute House Agreement – signed back in 2021 and named after the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh – brought the Green Party into government for the first time in the UK.
It gave the SNP a majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Green members, and also made Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers.
Without it, the SNP would need to have operated as a minority administration at Holyrood.
What caused the relationship to sour?
There had been mounting tensions between the largest party at Holyrood and their junior partners in government.
The Greens were angered at the SNP-led administration’s recent decision to ditch a key climate change target.
That, combined with the decision to pause the prescription of new puberty blockers to under-18s at Scotland’s only gender clinic, resulted in the Greens announcing they would have a vote on the future of the power-sharing deal.
What brought things to a head?
Mr Yousaf decided to pull the plug on the agreement last Thursday – arguing it had “served its purpose” – prompting a major fallout with his former allies, who vowed to back a no-confidence motion in his leadership proposed by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.
Scottish Labour also submitted a motion of no confidence in the Scottish government as a whole.
In the face of the two votes, Mr Yousaf announced he would stand down yesterday, but said he would stay on to allow a successor to be chosen.
Workers Party of Britain leader George Galloway has said his party could put pressure on Labour from the left in the way Reform UK is targeting the Tories on the right.
Mr Galloway said his party had 500 candidates ready and hoped to stand in most English seats at the general election as well as targeting some in Scotland and Wales.
He said: “We are confident that we’re going to be competitive in virtually every race.
“We will, I think, be short of candidates in Wales and Scotland, but we’re quite confident that in the vast majority of seats in England – except those that we’ve decided not to stand in for political reasons – that we will be on the ballot.
“And so people will not have to choose between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They’ll have a genuine choice. And we think that’s our duty to offer that.”
He claimed he was in talks with three Labour MPs about defecting.
“Talks were going swimmingly, then not, then back on again. These things take time.
“I’m hoping to land them, I’m an experienced fisherman, I’m hoping to land them on the riverbank in good time.”
Our flagship weeknight politics show Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge will be live on Sky News from 7pm.
The fast-paced programme dissects the inner workings of Westminster, with interviews, insights, and analysis – bringing you, the audience, into the corridors of power.
Sophy will be joined by Labour MP Diana Johnson and former independent inspector of borders and immigration John Vine.
And on her panel tonight will be:
Watch live on Sky News, in the stream at the top of this page, and follow live updates here in the Politics Hub.
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