Who do you want to see as new First Minister?

[Rememberal]

And who do you think it'll be if they are different?

Not seen any threads on this yet!

My two cents -

I voted SNP when I was very young (Salmond) and under the impression they were a kinda catch-all working man's party who didn't do much to offend the left or right, but I stopped voting for them ages ago and recently started to actively despise them.

Normally I'm the polar opposite of the Reddit consensus and they seem to want Robertson but only, it seems, because they can't have Mhari Black (which is one MP I DO know and absolutely cannot stand). I feel like Forbes is the only one who'd bring them back to the centre and increase membership as she might attract everyone who left back.

So I suppose I'm a toss-up between Forbes who might pull them away from their more (imho) farcical policies and Black who might finally start to kill them dead in the water.

I do believe Sturgeon resigned because the recent polling data (where ALL age demographics agreed with the WM overturn including a large amount of SNP membership) showed that people vote SNP despite their progressive policies and not because of them. I reckon they knew it would really hurt them at the next election, and since she can't U-turn, the only thing left to do was step aside and let a new leader shift their direction.

I'm interested to know what people on here think though.

Forbes.

But I do wish JK Rowling could be persuaded into politics.

The thing that was interesting was that the original article which revealed the identity (via jigsaw identification) was left up the whole time that was going on.

JKR has been brilliant but she doesn't need the hassle or anything else that comes with being an MP.

And that others who did the same or worse were not targeted, iirc.

Yes, I think that's probably a large part of it. The bullish arrogance is corrosive. Anything that's not positive cheerleading is attacked, ignored, or dismissed.

So they can't ever take feedback on board, despite their neverending timewasting consultations, the contents of which are apparently ignored if inconvenient.

It's not how to run a democracy.

Maybe we'd be better off if all politicians were drawn at random from the population like Jury duty.

It's an interesting idea, BigBoys!

Yeah Dani Garavelli also was accused by some of allowing jigsaw identification in her pieces. (Apparently, I never managed to work out who. 😂)

No action taken against her.

No, they weren't. I've forgotten many now but at the time it was relatives easy to identify most of the women involved (I seem to recall polls saying the same). It didn't appear that CM was worse than many of the other commentators- that's not to say he was right, but the way he was targeted was very interesting.

There's a nasty core to the SNP

Yeah that's where I sussed one from

Off you pop Swinneybot. Jumping ship because he knows what’s coming down the line (needs to start those negotiations for a book deal🤣).

Hope he does a better job for his constituents than he ever did as U-Turns Minister a ScotGov minister.

Does this scupper Humza?

news.sky.com/story/snp-leadership-hopeful-humza-yousaf-skipped-key-vote-on-gay-marriage-due-to-religious-pressure-says-scotlands-former-first-minister-alex-salmond-12823551

I saw that- they’ve been holding on to that haven’t they? If it looked like his campaign had a touch of the Teflon, they need to time that info in the hope it will derail him or he’ll say something silly in an interview and tie himself in knots. KF definitely has the upper hand, can just be really honest and take all the crap aimed at her. He’s seems like a bit of an ego to manage, that’s how he comes across anyway.

With the Swinneybot now gone, does this open up the deputy role for the runner up anyway?

I could see Forbes and Regan as a possible double act, but struggle to see either paired with Yousaf

Yousaf strikes me as someone with a massive ego.

I can't say much about Ragan but Kate is coming across as honest and we need someone who is at least honest at the top.

I do hope that the SNP with new leadership will be a more open party allow more personal view less of the toe the party line style of politics.
It will lead to a more balanced form of government that might actually work for Scotland

Can't we have JK Rowling?

We could do with Dumbledore to work some magic in Scotland.😜

Kate Forbes could do well, I think she's very young but I think she'd do well. And knows the difference between man & woman

Of the three, I would prefer Kate Forbes in terms of actually running the country. I'm not pro indy, so I should probably go for the most useless one but I'd like the country to stop being a sodding disaster zone.

None are great, they all have flaws. But I get the feeling KF would at least think things through

I also think it would be good to have a FM who is not from the central belt.

I agree. I’m not pro Indy either so if I ruled the world they’d all be out of a job, but I think Forbes is the only one who seems to have grasped the importance of building consensus and running the country for the benefit of the whole of Scotland and not just the minority of Indy supporters. Scotland is a disaster at the moment and it needs someone with a broader view to get it back on track - Yousaf isn’t capable of sticking a stamp on an envelope and Regen is banging the same old nationalist drum (although I support her GC stance).

I think they all have a GC stance. But Yousaf is more sleakit in actually saying it.
Kate has been very open and honest, doesn't agree with gay marriage either but wouldn't change it.

I don’t trust Yousaf on the gender issue at all - I think he’ll continue in exactly the same vein as Sturgeon. Regan at least had the courage of her convictions to resign over the issue. Forbes could/should have voted - no question.

Are SNP members ok with Kate Forbes attending the conservative leadership hustings in Perth?

They should be - their own member married the ex leader of the Labour Party. Their ex leader is married to the CEO of the party and look where that’s got them. The political leanings of partners should be kept separate imo.

How absolutely dare she find out what other parties are doing and what their leaders’ priorities might be! The SNP only run the country for SNP voters not anyone else and if you are Tory your views are invalid and we would never want you to vote for us anyway! Now Nicola Sturgeon, she did it right - ignore everyone else and focus people who agree with you.