WHEN First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation as leader of the SNP on February 15, the first person who came to my mind as a possible successor was the Scottish Government’s able and personable “economy minister”, Kate Forbes MSP.

One month later, while Kate has continued to impress with intelligent and frank arguments, some of the statements she has made during hustings and debates appear to have been politically rather naive, which given her lack of experience in leading intensely scrutinised public services is hardly surprising.

That said, as Kate is still only aged 32 she has plenty of time to gain further ministerial and political experience (including becoming more guarded in dealing with a predominantly hostile mainstream media) which will help prepare her for the challenging role of a future first minister of an independent Scotland.

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As for Ash Regan, although I am not a member of the party I feel disappointed for the SNP and the wider independence movement that someone who gives the impression of having a high opinion of herself seems to lack the more insightful thinking of those who have proven to be most capable in senior ministerial roles, never mind lacking Nicola’s comprehensive set of skills and public rapport.

The fact that the Tory and Labour parties in Scotland have so vociferously attacked Humza Yousaf, generally without relevant context to their criticisms, perhaps tells us who they do not want to see succeed Nicola. Humza is also probably not the Alba Party’s preferred leadership candidate as he seems the one most likely to prevent the SNP from becoming more centrist, which in turn could cause some more disaffected socialists to join the Alba Party.

Of course, the lack of endorsements from those parties seeking to increase their memberships on the back of their perceived demise of the SNP does not mean Humza will make a good leader and deliver independence in the near future, but he appears prepared to listen and to have a broad understanding of key government roles.

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Furthermore, while it seems that he also has political lessons to learn, I personally think Humza is wise in assessing that the SNP should maintain a progressive agenda that will encourage more Labour Party supporters to openly back self-determination.

The one piece of advice I would humbly offer whoever is successful in becoming the next leader of the SNP would be to carefully consider all ministerial appointments with the view of promoting professional competence/accountability at every level of government and to try his or her utmost to encourage Nicola Sturgeon (free of any ministerial responsibilities) to take on a leading role in coordinating the wider Yes movement (perhaps in a role similar to that performed previously by Dennis Canavan) so that she can complete the “unfinished business” of delivering independence within the next three to five years.

Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian

WHEN Truss beat Sunak to become our transient but fondly remembered UK leader she got 81,326 votes in the members’ ballot, while Sunak got 60,399. Thus the Conservative members in the UK who bothered to vote totalled 141,725. This equates to 0.25% per capita. The latest SNP membership figure of 72,186, the figure which has attracted such vitriolic comment from the rabid UK media, equates to 1.32% per capita.

So even after a “cataclysmic” loss of SNP members, the Tory membership is only 15% of the current SNP membership. We therefore expect to see the Daily Mail, Express and Telegraph reporting the imminent extinction of the Conversative party.

Ken Gow
Banchory