SNP members have begun voting to elect a new depute leader. Some 118,000 people will be eligible to take part in the ballot which opened yesterday after several weeks of campaigning and hustings.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown, Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny and senior activist Julie Hepburn are the three contenders to succeed Angus Robertson.
The winner will be announced on the first day of the party’s Spring Conference in Aberdeen next month.
Much of the debate during the election campaign focused on the candidates’ thinking on the timing for a second independence referendum. All of the contenders took part in the All Under One Banner march when saw tens of thousands of Yes supporters take to the streets of Glasgow earlier this month.
McEleny quickly made the timing of a new referendum a key issue in the campaign, calling for a new vote within 18 months. Hepburn backs a new vote during the current Holyrood parliamentary term, which runs until 2021, while Brown said there could be a vote “in one or two years”.
Other issues featuring in the debate included getting party activists ready for a second referendum and internal party reforms to facilitate greater levels of grassroots involvement. Brown has received considerable support from fellow MSPs and MPs, although Hepburn has also been backed by senior figures in the party including MP Alison Thewliss and MSP Sandra White.
Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan has publicly declared for McEleny, who got a boost yesterday when an online poll of readers of The National put him out in front.
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