Next SNP Leader: Humza Yousaf favourite after Forbes' equal marriage remarks

Max Liu
21 February 2023
3:00 min read

Humza Yousaf is the new favourite to be next SNP leader

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Get the latest odds on the next SNP leader after one of the leading candidates dented her chances with some unsavoury comments...

Race to replace Sturgeon hots up
Yousaf is new odds-on favourite
Forbes loses support but is still 4/1

Humza Yousaf became the new favourite to be next SNP leader after he overtook Kate Forbes who made a controversial remarks about equal marriage.

He is 8/15 to succeed Nicola Sturgeon who said last week that she would resign once the next leader has been elected.

Forbes was the favourite but she has lost support from MSPs and made the wrong kind of headlines with her comments about her opposition to equal marriage.

Forbes (pictured below with Sturgeon and Yousaf) is the SNP's finance secretary. She said she would not have voted for Holyrood's equal marriage legislation had she been an MSP when it was passed.

Forbes, Sturgeon and Yousaf.jpg

She went on to say that sex outside marriage is wrong according to her religious faith (Forbes is a member of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland).

SNP MSPs and MPs, who had previously backed Forbes to succeed Sturgeon, immediately distanced themselves from her and withdrew their support.

Yousaf has said that he supports equal marriage and Sturgeon's gender reform bill.

Forbes and Regan joint second at 4/1

The furore lead many commentators to conclude that Forbes' campaign was over before it had begun. Her team acknowledged that it had been a bruising experience so far.

However, Forbes has only drifted to 4/1 and it tied for second favouritism in the market on Betfair with Ash Regan.

Regan, who also comes from the conservative wing of he SNP, is a former minster who resigned over Holyrood's gender recognition bill.

She is followed in the betting by Mhairi Black, the MP who is the party's deputy leader at Westminster. She is 16/1 in the betting.

The SNP leadership contest is expected to last six weeks. You can get regular updates on the latest market moves from our politics live blog.

Next Permanent Leader of the SNP

Humza Yousaf 8/15

Kate Forbes 4/1

Ash Regan 4/1

Mhairi Black 16/1

Joanne Cherry 20/1

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