Who is Kate Forbes? All we know about SNP candidate as party to announce new leader

Kate Forbes will find out whether she has been elected leader of the SNP later today.

The politician, who has been on maternity leave from her finance secretary role, has been standing in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon, alongside Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf.

Ms Forbes was initially seen as a front runner but soon became embroiled in a row over her views on subjects such as same-sex marriage, which saw her lose a number of supporters.

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The race for the SNP leadership has been a rocky affair, with dramatic resignations and acrimonious clashes on major issues between the candidates during live TV debates – ending the party’s reputation for discipline and unity. The result of the contest is expected at 2pm on Monday.

Below we look at her career in politics to date and her personal beliefs.

Ms Forbes is the MSP for Sky, Lochaber and Badenoch. She was born in Dingwall but spent some of her childhood in Glasgow and India.

She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in history in 2011, before graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a master’s degree in emigration and diaspora history.

Before entering politics, Ms Forbes worked as an accountant for Barclays after working for two years for her local MSP, Dave Thompson.

She married her husband Alasdair MacLennan in 2021 and has been on maternity leave after giving birth to her first child, Naomi, in August.

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Ms Forbes was elected to the Scottish parliament in 2016.

As a backbencher from 2016 to 2018, she served on the Scottish Parliament’s environment, climate change and land reform committee; the standards, procedures and public appointments committee; the health and sport committee; and the rural economy and connectivity committee.

In 2017, she led a campaign to ban plastic straws in Scotland which became successful when a ban was introduced in August 2022.

Her frontbench career started when she was appointed as minister for public finance and digital economy in June 2018.

She then became the finance secretary weeks after she became the first woman to deliver the Scottish government’s budget in 2020 when her predecessor Derek Mackay quit hours before.

If she wins the leadership contest, the 32-year-old would be the youngest SNP leader.

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Ms Forbes garnered controversy during the leadership contest when said she would have opposed same-sex marriage as “a matter of conscience” if she had been an MSP when it became law in Scotland in 2014.

She then faced further criticism when she later said having children outside of marriage “would be wrong according to my faith” and she would personally “seek to avoid” it.

She has also previously spoken out against abortion. In 2018, she called on politicians to “recognise that the way we treat the most vulnerable - whether the unborn or the terminally ill - is a measure of true progress”.

In 2019, she was among the 15 SNP politicians who wrote an open letter to Ms Sturgeon the following year asking for a delay to self-identification gender recognition reforms.

The vote on the proposals happened when Ms Forbes was on maternity leave, but when she launched her leadership campaign she said she still had significant concerns about self-identification and would not have been able to vote for the legislation in its current form.

Scottish Greens have threatened to leave their coalition because of Ms Forbes opposition to these reforms, as well as other parts of the coalition agreement, including banning fishing in a series of new Highly Protected Marine Areas around Scotland.

But Ms Forbes told the Scottish Mail on Sunday she had “no fear” of running a minority government if they leave the coalition.

In terms of her other policies, Ms Forbes told the Guardian she would campaign for independence “through gentle persuasion, making the economic case and earning people’s trust back”.

She has said she would not raise income tax for higher earners and would instead focus on growing the economy and expanding the tax base by cutting red tape for businesses, improving transport infrastructure and having a “cautious” transition away from North Sea oil and gas.

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Ahead of today’s vote, Ms Forbes said she was the only one of the three candidates who could “reach across the political divide and convince No voters to think again”.

In a video posted on social media and directed at SNP members who have not yet voted, Ms Forbes said: “I need your vote, Scotland needs your vote. Change happens only when we vote for it. Independence happens only if we win.

“And it is clear that in this election, I am the only candidate who can deliver that ultimate prize for our nation. Only I can reach across the political divide and convince No voters to think again.

“Every poll in the campaign tells you that, and without achieving that conversion of No voters, Scotland is stuck in an endless constitutional loop. So if you want to win, it is up to you to make it happen.”

Ms Forbes is unlikely to stand again if she loses. She told The Herald she feels this is “probably the one opportunity” for her to secure the role, although she said she would support the party whatever the outcome.