Race to replace Sturgeon as leader under way with SNP ruling committee set to meet to work out succession timetable

Published

2 years ago

February 17, 2023

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The race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first minister is now under way – with the party meeting to set out the succession timetable later.

Sky News’ political correspondent Joe Pike understands the meeting will take place over Zoom at 6.30pm tonight.

Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation during a press conference in Edinburgh at her official residence, Bute House, on Wednesday.

Politics live: Trump has say on outgoing SNP leader

The 52-year-old said it had been “the very best job in the world” but that she believed part of “serving well would be to know almost instinctively when the time is right” to step down.

The longest serving and first woman first minister confirmed she would stay in post until somebody else takes over and remain as an MSP until at least the next Holyrood election.

The attention now turns to who will become Ms Sturgeon’s successor as leader of the SNP, which she has been at the helm of since 2014.

The SNP’s National Executive Committee will be meeting later today to work out a timetable for the leadership race.

In her resignation speech, Ms Sturgeon said her party has an “array of talent” ready to follow her.

Early possible contenders to become her successor include current deputy leader of the SNP Keith Brown, the SNP’s finance and economy secretary Kate Forbes, the party’s current constitution, culture and external affairs secretary Angus Robertson, the SNP’s health secretary Humza Yousaf and Scotland’s current deputy first minister John Swinney.

When will the SNP get a new leader?

Joe Pike

Political correspondent

@joepike

The time for the SNP’s national executive committee meeting is 6.30pm.

After it, we should get some sort of statement or press release giving details of the terms or timetable of the leadership contest.

It does seem though that the start of this contest will be slow as Holyrood is on recess – no-one is actually here because it is half-term.

And I understand one potential contender isn’t even in the country as they are abroad on holiday.

Perhaps they will be hot-footing it back to the UK, as of course Boris Johnson after Liz Truss’ exit from Number 10.

The expectation is the contest will take six weeks, but the last contested leadership contest – which was almost 20 years ago in 2004 – took two-and-a-half months.

So, it may not be until April, possibly early May, when we get a new leader of the SNP and new first minister.

The SNP’s newly elected Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who replaced Ian Blackford following his resignation in December, ruled himself out of the contest when speaking to Sky News.

As an MP and not a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Mr Flynn could currently only replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader – and not as Scotland’s first minister.

He told Kay Burley on Thursday: “I’ll indeed not be standing. Of course the next leader of the Scottish National Party needs to have the ability to be first minister – no MP has the ability to be first minister for obvious reasons that we are located in London and not Edinburgh.”

There is precedent for an MP to lead a Scottish party after Douglas Ross took over as head of the Scottish Tories in 2020.

Mr Ross’s predecessor, Ruth Davidson, deputised for him at First Minister’s Questions before he was able to take a seat in the Scottish Parliament himself at the 2021 election.

But Mr Flynn was not tempted to enter the race. Asked who he would be backing in the contest, he kept his cards close to his chest.

“In terms of who I’m backing, I’ve not seen anyone throw their name into the ring yet,” he said.

“Once names start going into that ring I’ll have conversations with my colleagues, see what their policy priorities are in terms of the immediate challenges that we face, how they intend to overcome some of the issues in relation to the economy, in relation to the health service, in relation to the cost of living crisis, and indeed our energy future, and of course how they set out their pathway to an independent future.

“I’m looking forward to that positive discussion once my colleagues decide whether they want to put themselves forward or not.”

But the Westminster leader did say an SNP conference, set to take place next month about the party’s approach to fighting for independence going forward, should be delayed.

“I think the new leader should have the opportunity and indeed the space to set out their position, their values and their intentions going forward,” he said.

“I think it’s sensible that we do hit the pause button on that conference and allow the new leader the opportunity to set out their vision.”

Time for ‘healing’

Although the SNP continued to lead the polls in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon’s resignation followed a series of political challenges in recent months.

Her government has sought to push through gender reforms, only for them to be blocked by Westminster.

But she insisted the row surrounding a transgender double rapist being sent to a women’s jail “wasn’t the final straw” at her resignation press conference.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a long-standing critic of the gender recognition reforms, called for “reform and healing” in her party, and asked for it to react to the resignation of Ms Sturgeon in “a way that is beneficial to the country and the cause of independence”.

She also called for a “neutral caretaker CEO” to take over from Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell.

Trump attacks ‘woke extremist’

Rishi Sunak put aside his political differences with Ms Sturgeon to thank her for her service following the news of her departure.

One of his ministers, Neil O’Brien, told Sky News, however, that her departure offered the Tories “an opportunity… to do better in Scotland”, adding: “I think it is apparent to people in Scotland now that the SNP are a bit played out in public services. Things are not working.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, also paid tribute to the departing first minister, but told Kay Burley: “It’s an opportunity for the people of Scotland to come together, rather than some of the division that we’ve seen, and also for the focus to be on issues like the cost of living crisis, the issues in the National Health Service.

“Those are the issues that Scottish Labour are going to be focusing on.“

But further afield, a former US president said “good riddance” in reaction to her resignation.

Donald Trump said in a statement: “Good riddance to failed woke extremist Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland!

“This crazed leftist symbolizes everything wrong with identity politics.

“Sturgeon thought it was okay to put a biological man in a women’s prison, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Sturgeon fought for a ‘Gender Recognition Reform Bill’ that would have allowed 16-year-old children to change their gender without medical advice.

“I built the greatest golf properties in the world in Scotland, but she fought me all the way, making my job much more difficult.

“The wonderful people of Scotland are much better off without Sturgeon in office!”

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Meanwhile, tennis star Sir Andy Murray posted a tweet saying: “Interesting vacancy. Was looking to get into politics when I finish playing.”

Alongside both a winking and a laughing emoji, Ms Sturgeon jokingly replied: “I know I said I wouldn’t endorse anyone as my successor, but….”

World

Two bridges collapse in Russia – as seven people killed and dozens injured

Published

50 mins ago

June 1, 2025

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Two bridges collapse in Russia - as seven people killed and dozens injured

Seven people have been killed and dozens are injured after two bridges collapsed in Russia overnight.

A train derailed after a bridge collapsed on to it in the Bryansk region, killing the driver and six others.

Some 69 people were injured in the crash, with the train travelling from Moscow to Klimov at the time.

Earlier, local authorities blamed “illegal interference” for the incident.

Later, a bridge collapsed in Russia’s Kursk region while a freight train was passing over it.

Local officials said one of the train’s drivers was injured in the crash.

Russia’s Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law
enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that the bridge in Bryansk was blown up, according to initial information.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Since the start of the war that Russia launched more than three years ago, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes, and covert raids by Ukrainian forces into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine.

Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said: “Everything is being done to provide all necessary assistance to the victims.”

Emergency workers are at the scene of the train derailment, attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage.

Russia’s federal road transportation agency said the destroyed bridge passed above the railway tracks where the train was travelling.

Images from the scene show passenger cars ripped apart and lying amid fallen concrete from the collapsed bridge.

Other footage on social media appeared to be taken from inside vehicles which narrowly avoided driving onto the bridge before it collapsed.

World

At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

Published

2 hours ago

June 1, 2025

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At least 21 killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid, Red Cross hospital says

At least 21 people have been killed in Gaza as they went to receive aid from an Israeli-backed foundation, according to a nearby hospital run by the Red Cross.

The hospital, which received the bodies, said another 175 people had been wounded in the incident in Rafah on Sunday morning.

The Associated Press also reports seeing dozens of people being treated at the hospital.

Witnesses have said those killed and injured were struck by gunfire which broke out at a roundabout near the distribution site.

The area is controlled by Israeli forces.

Ibrahim Abu Saoud, an eyewitness, said Israeli forces opened fire at people moving toward the aid distribution centre.

“There were many martyrs, including women,” the 40-year-old man said. “We were about 300 meters (yards) away from the military.”

Abu Saoud said he saw many people with gunshot wounds, including a young man who he said had died at the scene. “We weren’t able to help him,” he said.

The Gazans had been trying to receive aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – an American organisation backed by both the US and Israeli governments.

It operates as part of a controversial aid system which Israel and the US claims is aimed at preventing Hamas from siphoning off assistance.

Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion, and the UN denies it has occurred.

Earlier, Hamas-linked media had also reported more than 20 deaths in Rafah, saying they were as a result of an Israeli strike on an aid distribution point. Israel is yet to comment.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution of aid has been marred by chaos, and multiple witnesses have said Israeli troops fired on crowds near the delivery sites.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles because it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites, risking yet more mass displacement in the territory.

Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded, according to local health officials.

The foundation says the private security contractors guarding its sites did not fire on the crowds, while the Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots.

The foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the hospital’s claims.

In an earlier statement, it said it distributed 16 truckloads of aid early on Sunday “without incident”. It dismissed what it referred to as “false reporting about deaths, mass injuries and chaos”.

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World

Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed – as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

Published

7 hours ago

June 1, 2025

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Israel confirms Hamas chief Mohammad Sinwar was killed - as group makes counter-offer on ceasefire

Israel has confirmed its forces have killed Hamas’s Gaza chief, Mohammad Sinwar, as US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff called the group’s counter-offer on a ceasefire “totally unacceptable”.

Mohammad Sinwar became the leader of the militant group in the Gaza Strip after his older brother Yahya Sinwar was killed last October.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it had killed Sinwar on 13 May, and was the target of a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza.

Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told parliament on Wednesday that he had been “eliminated”.

Who was ‘The Shadow’ Mohammed Sinwar?

Mohammed Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahyah Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas and mastermind behind the 7 October attacks, who was killed by IDF forces in Rafah last October.

In January of this year, Mohammed was confirmed as the new leader of Hamas in Gaza, following the death of his brother.

Among Palestinians, he never had the reputation of Yahya, but he was widely believed to have played a significant role in the kidnap and holding of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 and demanded the release of Yahya Sinwar from Israeli prison as part of a swap deal.

Born in Khan Younis, Mohammed Sinwar rose through the ranks of Hamas to become a senior commander in Al Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing.

He was known as ‘The Shadow’, in part because of the junior role he played to his older brother and also because few images of him exist.

He survived multiple assassination attempts and was previously incorrectly declared dead during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Sinwar had a reputation for being stubborn, and Israeli sources in the ceasefire negotiations blamed him for slowing the process and changing his demands at the last minute.

The IDF has confirmed he was with the commander of the Rafah brigade, Mohammed Shabanah, in tunnels underneath the European Hospital in Gaza when the IDF struck in mid-May. Shabanah’s death is significant because he was a likely successor to Sinwar.

It would leave Azadi al-Hadad, the Gaza City Brigade Commander, as the only living Hamas commander from 7 October.

He would likely be in line as the next Hamas chief in Gaza.

Hamas seeks changes in US ceasefire proposal

It comes as Hamas said it was seeking amendments to a US-proposed ceasefire deal, offering 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, the White House said Israel agreed to a 60-day ceasefire proposal, which would see the release of nine living hostages and half of the known hostages who have died over the course of a week.

Israel and Hamas would then continue talks to bring the remaining hostages home, but Israel would retain the right to resume military action in Gaza if talks were to break down.

In a statement about the proposal on Saturday, Hamas said its response “aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip”.

Hamas offer ‘totally unacceptable’ – Witkoff

Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff, said on social media that Hamas’s response is “totally unacceptable and only takes us backwards”.

“Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week,” he added.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Reuters that the group has not rejected the proposal but added Mr Witkoff’s response was “unfair” and showed “complete bias” towards Israel.

Israel has not yet responded to Hamas’ counter-offer, but has previously rejected the conditions and demanded the complete disarmament and dismantling of the group.

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Meanwhile, Gaza aid groups have said dozens of World Food Programme (WFP) trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people.

The WFP added: “After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by.”

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation”.

Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries via the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Instead, it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies.