When Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland, people were shocked as it had come completely out of the blue. Sturgeon believed it was the right time for her to step down after serving as FM for eight years, but this left the SNP in the awkward position of choosing a successor.
2023 Leadership Election
There was no immediate frontrunner in the race, bookmakers almost immediately put Angus Robertson as the lead candidate to replace Sturgeon, but he quickly ruled himself out. Other MSPs such as Keith Brown, Depute Leader of the SNP, and Mairi McAllan also declined to put themselves forward.
In the week following Sturgeon’s statement, three people had thrown their hat into the ring. Humza Yousaf, former Justice Secretary and then Health Secretary, was widely seen as one of the likely candidates to succeed Sturgeon.
Ash Regan, former Community Safety Minister, who resigned from her ministerial post due to her protests against the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR), was not a prominent member of the party and was not expected to do well in the election.
Finally, Kate Forbes, then Finance Secretary, who is considered to be more on the right of the party but was still a favourite to win the election. During the campaign, Forbes’ made several statements surrounding her views, including saying she would have voted against same-sex marriage if she was an MSP at the time.
The results of the leadership election were announced on 27 March 2023. In the first round Yousaf won 48.2% of the vote, Forbes won 40.7% and Regan won 11.1%. As no candidate won a majority, Regan was eliminated, and the second preference votes were counted. After this, Yousaf emerged victorious with 52.1% of the vote, followed by Forbes with 47.9%.
Humza Yousaf
Yousaf became leader of the SNP and was elected as First Minister. He became the first Muslim and person of colour to serve in the role of First Minister of Scotland.
One of Yousaf’s flagship policies as First Minister which he began whilst he was Cabinet Secretary for Justice, was the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. The bill streamlined existing legislation and provided extra protection for minorities from hatred, whilst ensuring that the right to freedom of speech and expression was maintained.
The bill received criticism from some who believed it would limit free speech in Scotland and there were some protests outside of Holyrood when the bill became law. Yousaf was also faced with accusations of a hate crime over an anti-racism speech he gave in parliament several years prior, with Police Scotland receiving complaints about this from some people, however no action was taken as his speech was not a hate crime.
In April 2024, the Scottish Government dropped their target of cutting emissions by 75% by 2030 whilst keeping the final goal of reaching ‘net zero’ by 2045. The move was met with disapproval from the SNP’s coalition partners, the Scottish Greens, who said their membership would meet to vote on the future of the Bute House Agreement (BHA).
Before the Greens were able to hold a vote, Yousaf terminated the BHA and the Greens left government. The move was met with criticism from members of the Greens as well as the SNP, as members of both parties were not consulted on the move, and it was seen as Yousaf taking matters into his own hands.
Four days after terminating the BHA, Yousaf resigned as SNP Leader and FM of Scotland, giving an emotional speech in Bute House.
John Swinney
John Swinney, who had previously served as SNP leader in the early 2000s, ran for the leadership of the SNP and was elected as First Minister on 8 May 2024. Swinney was elected unopposed after his presumed opponent Kate Forbes said she would not stand and put her support behind Swinney.
Forbes was subsequently made Deputy FM, a move which has caused considerable criticism from SNP members and those on the left wing of politics in Scotland due to Forbes’ views on same-sex marriage, gender recognition and other social issues.
Exactly 2 weeks after Swinney was elected FM, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a UK General Election would take place on 4 July 2024. The already big challenges for Swinney, having to stabilise the SNP ship and pull the party back from declining polls and recent controversies, were made even harder by the announcement.
With less than a week to go until the UK goes to the polls (at time of writing), Scotland’s political landscape is sure to be changed dramatically. Will the SNP retain a majority of seats? Will Labour overtake the SNP? Which seats will be close calls and tough battlegrounds? It’s going to be an exciting time, and I for one am looking forward to the election results coming through.
Devolution and the Future
So here we are, 25 years on from the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. We’ve had six Scottish Parliament elections, seven First Ministers and an independence referendum too. In 25 years, Scottish politics has seen a lot of changes, and the next 25 years will be just as important for the future of Scotland. With the upcoming General Election, the changes just keep coming!
Who can say what the future holds for Scotland and what shape the country will be in come the end of this and subsequent decades? With a UK General Election being held on 4 July, and a Scottish Parliament election in 2026, it’s going to be an interesting couple of years.
Labour is on track to win the UK General Election, but what will they do for Scotland and devolution? Will they expand the powers of the Scottish Parliament, enabling them to legislate on a wider range of topics? Will they lift the Section 35 order and enable the GRR Bill to become law? Keir Starmer appears to have ruled these out, but we can hope he will change if he becomes the Prime Minister.
With the current state of the SNP and opinion polls suggesting a switch to Labour, the SNP must convince undecided voters to vote SNP in the general election. Labour meanwhile has the chance to overtake the Conservatives and potentially even the SNP.
There is no doubt that thanks to Donald Dewar and his work towards devolution, Scotland is a better country today and we should thank Dewar for the work he did. It is a deep shame that he is not still here today to see the impact that he has had on the people of Scotland, but his legacy will always be remembered. No matter who is First Minister or which party forms a government, I’m sure Donald Dewar would be proud to see his dream going strong 25 years later.
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