Kate Forbes

The SNP civil war has deepened after Kate Forbes turned down First Minister Humza Yousaf's offer of a junior role in his Cabinet.

Robison said: "I am honoured to accept Humza’s request to be his Deputy First Minister. He said: "Shona Robison has agreed to be my deputy first minister, which I'm delighted about. "His election as First Minister is a historic moment and marks the beginning of a new chapter for the country.” She has been an MSP since 1999. "I absolutely want Kate Forbes to be part of the government,” he said. [SNP](https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/snp-leadership-race-live-successor-29553990) civil war has deepened after Kate Forbes turned down First Minister Humza Yousaf’s offer of a junior role in his Cabinet.

While earlier it was unclear what Yousaf would offer Kate Forbes, she has reportedly been offered the rural affairs portfolio.

Former MSP Alex Neil has labelled the offer an ‘insult’ and ex-politician Joan McAlpine said ‘it was so obviously a demotion’ and that Forbes had ‘no option but to go’. It would be unwise to forget that almost half of all those members that voted would have preferred Kate Forbes to be their first minister over him. In fact, many senior SNP figures assumed that Forbes would receive a top role in his cabinet to promote the appearance of unity after a particularly fractious leadership race. Any snub to her will send a signal to these voters that he is not as serious as he made out yesterday about party unity – or their priorities. Rejecting this offer, Forbes has now quit government and will go to the back benches. Humza Yousaf announced today, after being voted in by 71 MSPs as Scotland’s First Minister, that Shona Robison would be his deputy.

The Highlander is understood to have been offered the rural affairs job but now wants to sit on the backbenches.

But Ms Regan’s decision to resign over gender reform laws will make a government return tricky if Mr Yousaf plans to forge ahead with the policy. He has previously criticised the SNP for delays and has said the government is in the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Jim Fairlie was one of the first parliamentarians to publicly back Ms Forbes after she lost a lot of support for her comments on gay marriage. “Kate Forbes is already a key member of the cabinet and Ash Regan has shown she has the ability and courage to step up.” Mr Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said he is “really disappointed” at the leadership result, calling Ms Forbes an “outstanding candidate” who is able to persuade people to independence. The Press and Journal was told the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP was offered a role in the rural brief shortly after Mr Yousaf was voted in as first minister on Tuesday afternoon.

She is believed to have been offered the rural affairs job by new First Minister Humza Yousaf, but turned it down.

Mr Yousaf is the first First Minister from an ethnic minority background as well as the first Muslim politician to become leader of a Western democratic nation. Mr Sunak said he had spoken to the First Minister to congratulate him on his appointment. Ms Forbes is believed to have been offered the rural affairs job by new First Minister

The new first minister wanted to demote his leadership rival.

Ps after 5 long weeks, I’ll be delighted to see more of my family!” In whatever capacity I serve, I’ll support him. However, he had signalled he intended to heal the divisions by taking a “Team SNP” approach to forming his new government. [Forbes](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/kate-forbes) has quit the Scottish government after new first minister [Humza Yousaf](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/huymza-yousaf) tried to demote her. The move is a major setback for Yousaf as he tries to unite the SNP after being elected party leader yesterday. The former finance secretary, who was narrowly defeated by Yousaf in the race to succeed

Kate Forbes, Scotland's finance secretary, will leave the devolved government and return to the backbenches after losing a close battle against Humza Yousaf ...

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She is believed to have been offered the rural affairs job by new First Minister Humza Yousaf, but turned it down.

“The reality is the SNP are divided from top to bottom. She said on Tuesday that she was “delighted” to have voted for Mr Yousaf to become First Minister when the majority of MSPs backed him for the top job. Mr Yousaf was named SNP leader on Monday, when it was revealed that he won 52.1% of the vote once he progressed to the second round.

The losing SNP leadership candidate is set to walk away from government after a humiliating job offer from the new First Minister.

[Humza Yousaf means three more years of SNP spin, secrecy, failure, scandal and the Green tail wagging the dog](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/comment/humza-yousaf-means-three-more-29568821) [Lorna Slater in 'car crash' radio interview as she suggests Humza Yousaf's deposit return scheme changes WON'T happen](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/lorna-slater-car-crash-radio-29567332) [Labour would win 'at least' 10 seats from the Nats... "It makes a mockery of his claim only yesterday that: 'We are no longer team Humza, or team Ash, or team Kate, we are one team.' The reality is the SNP are divided from top to bottom. Speculation over Ms Forbes's future in the SNP administration heightened following a series of highly-personal attacks on Mr Yousaf and his record during the campaign. but SNP insist Yousaf can govern 'without an election'](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/labour-would-win-at-least-29566217) [Holyrood's 'coalition of chaos' set to continue as SNP tipped to 'bow' to the Scottish Greens](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/holyroods-coalition-chaos-set-continue-29563792) [For the latest politics news, click here](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/) Having previously served as Finance Secretary before going on maternity leave, it would have been seen as a major step down. "The public are being appallingly let down by this squabbling rabble, and only the Scottish Conservatives will focus on the issues that matter to them – such as the cost-of-living crisis and the state of Scotland's NHS." For her part, Ms Forbes also said she was "able to govern without the Green party" and it appears that almost half of the SNP members who voted in the election agreed with her. Responding to the news, Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy MSP said: "On day one as First Minister, Humza Yousaf has poured petrol on the SNP civil war. Ms Forbes came under fire from senior SNP colleagues – including Ms Robison – during the campaign over her socially conservative views on issues like abortion and gay marriage, with Mr Yousaf warning the party against a "lurch to the right". She questioned whether he was capable of being leader during a live STV debate and told him: "You were transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we've got record high waiting times." [Kate Forbes](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/kate-forbes) is to leave the Scottish Government despite winning 48 per cent of votes and narrowly losing out to [Humza Yousaf](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/humza-yousaf) in the SNP leadership race. There had been speculation that Ms Forbes would be kept on in her finance role in a bid to heal the damaging divisions that have emerged within the SNP since

Her departure came hours after SNP leader Humza Yousaf was confirmed as Scotland's new first minister.

In his conversation with the new first minister on Tuesday, the prime minister is said to have reiterated his desire to "continue working constructively with the Scottish government". Ms Forbes congratulated Mr Yousaf after he was confirmed as the new SNP leader on Monday, saying: "Whatever the robust disagreements or frank exchanges of the last few weeks, I am confident we will unite behind Humza as our new party leader in the shared and common objective of independence". Speaking shortly after being confirmed as the new first minister on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Yousaf said he had spoken to Ms Forbes and "absolutely" wanted her to remain in government - but it was not known at that stage what role she had been offered or whether she would accept. Ms Forbes had launched a highly-personal attack on Mr Yousaf during the SNP leadership contest when she questioned whether he was capable of being first minister during a live STV debate. Mr Yousaf was elected as first minister after being backed by his own MSPs and the Scottish Greens, which guaranteed him a majority over the opposition party leaders. Her departure came hours after the new SNP leader was confirmed as Scotland's first minister after a vote in the Scottish Parliament.

Ms Forbes turned down a job in the government of the party's new leader Humza Yousaf.

“She had a genuinely very amicable conversation with Humza but let him know that she did not want to be considered for any other cabinet roles.” after 5 long weeks, I’ll be delighted to see more of my family!” She intervened during the contest to launch an outspoken attack on Ms Forbes for “trashing” the Scottish Government’s record. Craig Hoy, Scottish Tory chairman, said: “On day one as First Minister, Humza Yousaf has poured petrol on the SNP civil war. Ms Robison faced criticism from feminist campaigners, who accused her of refusing to engage with valid concerns as she steered the Gender Recognition Reform Bill through Holyrood. Sources close to Mr Yousaf said the First Minister and his Finance Secretary had to be “on the same page” about the direction of the Scottish Government, whereas Ms Forbes was not. In whatever capacity I serve, I’ll support him. They insisted that she had an “amicable” conversation with the new First Minister and denied claims that she had told Mr Yousaf “where to stick” his offer of a demotion. A poor start.” He said Ms Robison’s appointment was the “surest sign yet” that Mr Yousaf was “doubling down” on his plans to go to court to try and overturn a UK government veto of the gender reforms. Alex Neil, a former SNP cabinet minister who backed her, suggested that Mr Yousaf had sought to humiliate his former rival by offering her a lesser post. [Humza Yousaf](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/03/25/humza-yousaf-will-have-nicola-sturgeon-speed-dial-wins-snp-leadership/) has been accused of “pouring petrol” on the SNP’s civil war after Kate Forbes rejected his “insulting” offer of a demotion to serve in his Cabinet.