NICOLA Sturgeon has said she will resign as the First Minister of Scotland, and as leader of the SNP, when a successor is chosen.
Speaking at a last-minute press conference arranged on Wednesday morning, Sturgeon insisted she wouldn't be leaving politics and would continue to champion causes she believes in from Holyrood's backbenches.
The news has sparked speculation about who could lead the SNP in her wake.
READ MORE: Who will replace Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister?
A poll over the weekend suggested that the currently on-leave finance secretary Kate Forbes was a frontrunner, as well as Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson.
John Swinney was also ranked highly, but will he fancy a second term at the head of the party?
With the race too close to call, we’re asking National readers: who do you think should take over from Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader?
We've only included the sitting MSPs who ranked highest in the weekend's poll, but please let us know in the comments if you would prefer a different candidate altogether.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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