by Kate Forbes is more popular with Scottish people to be First Minister than SNP favorite John Swinney, a new poll reveals.
The Ipsos survey, the first since Humza Yousaf announced her resignation, found that 26 per cent of voters identified Ms Forbes as their preferred choice when given a list of potential candidates, compared with 20 percent for Mr. Swinney.
But 30 per cent of SNP supporters said Mr Swinney was their preferred candidate, while only 21 per cent named Ms Forbes. They also believed he was more likely to do a good job.
The poll also showed that the vast majority of Scots (81 per cent) believe Mr Yousaf was right to resign on Monday and more than half (51 per cent) said he had made no difference to Scottish life during his tenure. years as Prime Minister.
This figure increased to 60 per cent among those who voted SNP in the 2021 Holyrood election. The same percentage also said he made the wrong decision to rip up his coalition deal with the Scottish Greens, as a result of botched handling of his resignation the tobacco.
The poll was published after Miss Forbes dropped her strongest hint yet that she would stand in the SNP leadership contest, revealing she had gained a “base of support”.
The SNP must ‘look outside the bubble’
Scotland’s former finance secretary confirmed publicly for the first time that she was “weighing up” putting her name forward to replace Mr Yousaf as SNP leader and Prime Minister.
She also stood in last year’s contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon, only losing to Mr Yousaf by a margin of 52 per cent to 48 per cent, despite having the support of the party establishment.
Although she praised Mr Swinney, who was deputy prime minister in Nicola Sturgeon’s government, she insisted Mr Yousaf’s successor should not be crowned without a contest.
Ms Forbes told Sky News that SNP members “must get behind the next leader” and that the selection process must take their views into account – something that may not happen with a coronation.
Her allies also pleaded with her to put her name forward, warning the SNP to “look outside the bubble” by choosing the candidate most popular with all voters rather than just party members .
Mr Swinney is the clear choice to win a second term as SNP leader, with party grandees and a number of potential leadership rivals quickly lining up behind him.
But the 60-year-old faces accusations that he is “yesterday’s man” after playing a prominent role in the governments of Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon. He also failed in his first term as SNP leader, between 2000 and 2004.
Candidates have until midday next Monday to enter the race and nominations are required from 100 party members across 20 branches. All SNP members will get a vote on the candidates. The SNP’s governing national executive committee will decide the length of the process next week, depending on whether it is a contest or a coronation.
Forbes has ‘broader appeal among voters’
Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos in Scotland, said: “The SNP will be looking to elect a leader who can unite the party, secure cooperation from opposition parties so that laws and budgets can be passed and reverse the party’s slide in the Community. poll.
“While Swinney may be in a better position than Forbes to address the first two of these, on the third point the evidence suggests that Forbes may currently have broader appeal among the electorate than like Swinney’s.”
The poll found that 37 per cent of voters thought Mr Swinney and Ms Forbes would do a good job. Another 23 percent thought it would work poorly, and 24 percent said the same to her.
However, Mr Swinney was rated much higher among SNP voters, with 58 per cent saying he would be good and just 10 per cent bad. The figures for Ms Forbes were 46 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.
Scots were evenly divided on whether Mr Yousaf’s decision to end his coalition with the Greens was the right decision, with 45 per cent in support and the same percentage against.
However, 37 per cent said he had made Scotland worse since he replaced Ms Sturgeon last year and only eight per cent said he had changed the country for the better.
In a boost to Sir Keir Starmer, 39 per cent of voters said Labor would do a better job of running the Scottish Government than the SNP and only 27 per cent said a worse job. The survey was carried out on 1,127 adults on Monday and Tuesday this week.
Speaking as MPs returned to Holyrood for the first time since Mr Yousaf stepped down on Monday, Miss Forbes said: “Obviously I’m still weighing up all my options. I know that there is a base of support for me among the members. That was quite clear in the last competition, which I know you followed very closely.
“Obviously I will be taking that into account and also trying to consider what is best for the country, the party and my family.”
Pressed on whether it would be a “stitch-up” if she was forced not to stand when Mr Swinney was crowned, Miss Forbes said: “I think the membership needs to get behind the next leader and the process needs to to demonstrate that.”
Ivan McKee, a Forbes supporter and former business minister, argued that “it’s important to have that competition and I always believe that Kate Forbes is the person who can connect with that wider electorate.”
‘Fresh thinking and fresh talent’
Michelle Thomson, who was Mr Forbes’ campaign manager last year, also said that “there needs to be an opportunity for SNP members to express themselves democratically”.
Claiming that political parties need to “constantly renew”, she said she “can’t believe it was 24 years ago that Mr Swinney was elected leader for the last time.
He stepped down as deputy first minister last year alongside Ms Sturgeon, saying his time at the top of the SNP was over because it needed “fresh thinking and fresh talent”.
Mr Swinney said he was still considering whether to stand in for Mr Yousaf but rejected the “yesterday man” jibe, saying “people always have a contribution to make”.
He said: “What has changed is that my partner is in a very different and more difficult situation than he was 12 months ago and I would not be doing a service to the many, many, many people who have contacted me asking me. his position.
“I would not be in the habit of ignoring the representations sent to me. I am someone who listens, listens and addresses the points put before me and that is exactly what I am doing now.”
