No, I don't think so. She was offered a major demotion , which I think any self respecting person would turn down.
If she does end up waiting in the long grass then Yousaf will have only himself to blame. You can't make a speech about united the party and then offer your opponent a role she has to refuse.
I think Forbes with near half the party already, is opting to wait in the long grass.
He's already been in charge of health and look at the condition the Scottish NHS is in.
Sturgeon left before the scandals start catching up with her.
Even the lowest tabloid media understood that the SNP has been taking Scotland for a ride for many years:
Forbes turns down low Minesterial offer
The whole funding of devolved assemblies based on the Barnet formula is very unfair.
It is set up such that Westminster controls the funding, and since England does not have a devolved assembly, and the vast majority of Gov MPs and ministers are based in England, it is to be expected that a bias would exist that favours England and English Gov MPs.
For example, the Heathrow extension, the HS2 and Cross Rail projects do not benefit any devolved assembly, but its funding affects the Barnet formula. Those three particular projects are a huge cost and only benefit the SE of England. They do not even benefit anywhere north of Birmingham.
Add in the tax concessions to high earning City types to plumb up their generous private pensions tax-free , so this current corrupt Tory Gov makes sure it looks after its friends in the SE of England, and those living in the Tory safe seats. Truss, in her 42 day stint as PM, even crashed the UK economy is a vain attempt to further these ends of helping her rich friends and donors.
It's not like Westminster hands back corporation tax paid in London on the portion of earnings companies make in Scotland.
"When Humza Yousaf was declared leader of the SNP, the reaction of many in the Labour Party was unmitigated jubilation.
“It’s the best possible result for us,” a senior Labour figure said. “People have already made up their minds about him. Once people have formed an impression of a politician it’s very hard to shift it — we saw that with Ed Miliband. People think he’s a failed politician who can’t run the health service.”
The calculation for Labour is simple. During Yousaf’s tenure as Scotland’s health secretary waiting lists have soared to record levels, something the party plans to weaponise before the next general election. The election of Yousaf, Labour believes, will enable it to ram home criticism of the SNP’s domestic record on health and crime.
Labour strategists believe that the party could win as many as 20 seats north of the border at the next election, which would help propel Sir Keir Starmer into No 10. The party hopes that its long exile from the mainstream in Scottish politics may finally be coming to an end.
There was a similar reaction in the Conservative Party, where Kate Forbes, the runner-up, had been viewed as the bigger threat. “It’s played out very well for us,” a senior government source said. “Kate Forbes was the risk. She’s the centre-ground, business-friendly vote. With Humza it’s business as usual.”
https://archive.is/k2Xm8
He needs to make life better for people in Scotland. That's the priority, difficult to achieve with the austerity platform pushed by Westminister for the last 13 years. That's the best way to move the independence dial.
Does he want Scottish independence? I suspect he doesn't really care, he has always been a good shouter than a doer.
Outside of that he has no discernible talent, Unionists and their masters in London are delighted tonight.
I'd say first off he needs the opinion poll numbers for independence to get back above 50%. He needs to heal the divisions in the party and improve the SNP's record in government. I don't see any alternative in the short-term the way things are.
If you're nominated for an Oscar, when they open the envelope you better be smiling.
What is the big prize? To the likes of Yousaf, the continuity guy, it is the gravy train of devolution
Regan looked like thunder after the votes were announced; Forbes at least hid the disappointment better.
I think it's the smart choice. Forbes would have faced constant questions about her religious views a bit like that Tim Farron who had a short and terrible run as Lib Dem leader. Regan talked a big game without having any plan to back it up.
Yousaf has the best chance of unifying the camp and keeping the focus on the big prize.
Ah shur, whichever way they voted, you'd have a negative spin ready for it any way.
Forbes possibly lost owing to her conservative social values. Probably was the most able candidate. Seem also to be a warm person.
Handled losing very well, in contrast to Regan, who looked shocked. Wish Yousaf well.
A bad decision by the SNP membership, Yousaf is already starting from a pretty negative rating and will do little to arrest the decline
30% of the membership did not vote which shows a massive level of disengagement or the SNP membership figures are fiction (again!)
Yousaf won but not by an overwhelming number.
Final tally was Yousaf 26,032 and Forbes 23,890 after distributing Regan's vote.
So endorsement for continuity, but not by much
You'd have to expect Yousaf to win, the continuity Sturgeon candidate.
The SNP is becoming more of a niche party day by day.
Hopefully he won't finish off the chance of Scottish independence.
The Scottish government can only allocate expenditure from what resources it receives, mainly in the block grant. And that is set in Westminster .It cannot decide to tax the City financial institutions in order to spend more on health and education.
Great, if Forbes loses I'm sure she will blame it because of discrimination of her beliefs etc. rather than her putting her foot in her mouth on multiple topics as a politican...
A party built on the flag of independence will by its nature, be a broad church. You have both christian and social democrats in the one party. It is in effect a coalition. Hard to keep that as one over a longer period of time.
Yousaf it seems.
Clear favorite with the bookies.
Not surprising seening as Forbes is socially conservative in a party that has been very socially liberal over the last few years, and Yousaf is socially liberal.
Who is the smart money on here?
The analogy doesn't quite track but should Ireland's autonomy by stripped for each successive, failed government, given over to Brussels because it failed some nebulous sense of competence? Or ditto US states whose budgets or institutions lag behind some arbitrary sense of federal autonomy, the blame sitting with the resting party?
The case for independence will invariably be linked to the party most vocal for it, and the state of things while being run by that party - but again, independence won't be won or lost exclusively by the state of the economy, or some sense of needing to be This High for independence to be valid. it certainly wasn't our barometer.
So even though education and health have been devolved since 1999 the excuse for them being in poor shape under the SNP for the last so many yeay is that Westminster aren't giving Scotland enough money to run them correctly?
Remaining as part of the UK is a vul de sac, if ever there was one.
And the only way for Scotland to deal with those problems you list, and they exist, such as health and education, is to end Westminster interference and get fill control of the Scottish budget. Those problems are an argument for independence not against it.
Sturgeon's reputation seems to be broken, not the SNPs own; or at least, we can't see either for sure until the next set of polls come out, or indeed election. It survived the last big personality departure in leadership with Alex Salmond; I'd not write its obituary just yet with Sturgeon leaving.
The first referendum might have been lost but it wasn't manifested by a reduction in pro independence representation in Holyrood; in fact taking the Greens into account there remains an overall majority support in of SMPs. And whether the public appetite exists or not, it seems happy to vote for SNP over the Scottish variants of the main 3 English parties. Alba didn't appear to cause much of a rift, with no sign of bleed elsewhere AFAIK.
No independence movement comes ready baked, the country perfect and primed for going it alone. It has always been an issue driven by emotion, not pragmatism. Name me a country whose independent movement was driven by stats or charts; it's always about something deeper.
Sturgeon won every election as leader convincingly and leaves office as the most popular leader in Scotland.
There is no wonder the SNP brand is damaged. Also the pathway to independence was a cull de sack from day one. Voters just didn't want to see that as the playbook was always the depressed minority within the UK and the evil of Westminster. ( Westminster, the ones who paid for everything the SNP promised.....)
There are far to many domestic problems in Scotland, starting from the Scottish NHS, to education issues. Also Scotland is sadly leading the number of drug deaths in Europe. Sturgeon also had no real succession planning upon her departure, no leader in waiting nothing of that sort. She also failed twice on the referendum issue, lost the first referendum, and the second one was overruled by the supreme court. Also when Sturgeon announced that she was stepping down, there was some kind of police enquiry into SNP finances.
Also the SNP is having a massive loss of party members recently. Sturgeon has been taking the Scottish votes for a ride for many many years, and I believe she left, before anybody is really smart enough to pin all these failures on her.
Maybe some Irish take fun into the idea of Scottish independence, but from a reasoning point of view, it's way better it never ever happens.
It is wrong that the CEO and the leader had a personal relationship. Murrell should have stepped down when Sturgeon became party leader.
Slagging the 3 running for the leadership, without giving reasons. Well we know what that's called.
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