SNP leadership race: Five key challenges Scotland’s new first minister will face as Sturgeon’s successor set to be announced

Scotland’s new first minister is set to be announced today.

Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation sparked an explosive leadership contest with rows over religious beliefs, arguments about the recollection of past events, and widespread criticism of secrecy surrounding the vote.

The contest has also led to a number of other resignations, including that of Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell as SNP chief executive.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and former community safety minister Ash Regan are all in the running for the top job.

Whoever becomes the new SNP leader and first minister will face a number of difficult challenges as they take office.

Here are five of the key priorities that are expected to be at the top of their agenda.

Defining a clear plan for independence

The campaign for Scottish independence did not stop following the results of the 2014 referendum.

The SNP leadership candidates each believe they can lead Scotland to independence but are yet to define a clear route to indyref2.

A special conference due to be held earlier this month to discuss plans was postponed following Ms Sturgeon’s resignation.

Ms Sturgeon’s preference was to treat the next general election, which will be held no later than 24 January 2025, as a de facto referendum.

The new leader will not be obligated to follow the same course and an alternative could be to treat the next Holyrood election, due in 2026, as a de facto referendum.

However, the UK government refuses to consent to a second referendum and the UK Supreme Court last year ruled that the Scottish parliament cannot legislate for another vote without Westminster approval.

Independence supporters will be keen to hear what the new first minister’s plans are to overcome the block, while those who wish to remain part of the UK will be hoping for another decade of fruitless campaigning.

How to progress with gender recognition reforms

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has been a contentious issue within the SNP.

In October last year, Ms Regan quit as community safety minister shortly before MSPs began debating the first stage of the bill. A total of seven SNP MSPs broke the whip to vote against the bill, which would make it easier for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate.

It then became a constitutional dispute in January when the UK government took the unprecedented step of using section 35 of the Scotland Act to block the bill from receiving royal assent and becoming law.

The new first minister may wish to challenge the intervention in court. The bill could also be dropped altogether or amended to satisfy the UK government.

Mr Yousaf has stated it would be “responsible” to drop a potential legal challenge if the lord advocate believed the Scottish government would lose.

Ms Regan believes any court challenge would fail, while Ms Forbes has previously pledged to amend the legislation to ensure it cannot be blocked again.

Whatever the decision, there will be displeasure from certain camps and allies of the party.

Tackling Scotland’s drug deaths shame

Drug misuse continues to blight Scotland’s neighbourhoods.

Official data released last year showed there were 1,330 deaths in 2021 due to drug misuse.

It was the first time in eight years the figure had decreased, but Scotland continues to have the highest drug death rate recorded by any country in Europe.

The Scottish government has been attempting to increase access to rehabilitation and support for problematic drug use, including opening two family rehab centres.

An additional £250m has also been invested to tackle the “drug deaths emergency”.

Read more:
The downfall of SNP power couple in less than 150 days
SNP has lost around 30,000 party members since 2021
Does hunger for independence remain in Scotland’s ‘Yes’ towns and cities?
In Full: Watch the SNP Leadership Debate

The new first minister is being called to back the Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Recovery Bill and see it through parliament.

The proposed legislation would enshrine in law the right of those struggling with addiction to access their preferred method of treatment, unless ruled harmful by a clinician.

When Sky News visited Scotland’s “Yes” towns and cities to see if the hunger for indyref2 remained, one woman said tackling drug-related deaths should be high on the agenda.

Wendy Duncan, 80, told us that the campaign for independence was a “waste of money and a waste of time”.

She added: “We’re an EU leader when it comes to drug deaths. It’s a scandal and the government should be concentrating on those types of things in Scotland.”

Alleviating the cost of living crisis

The country barely emerged from the COVID pandemic before it plunged into a cost of living crisis.

Households are having to spend more on food and general bills and have seen their energy costs soar.

Businesses have also been hit. The chip shop industry is just one of many that has been battered recently with the price of fish, cooking oil and energy skyrocketing.

As one Glasgow woman told Sky News: “Everything is going up in price, except wages. The new first minister should make sure the minimum wage goes up.”

In Dundee, Jean Whyte, 66, said she fears for those living off benefits and those not in work.

Ms Whyte said: “[My partner and I] are lucky that we have a wee bit of money behind us. But we used to donate to a food bank every two weeks – that’s now once a month or every six weeks.

“I have heard that a lot of people who used to donate to food banks are now using them.”

Turning the NHS around

Scotland’s NHS is yet to recover from an extremely difficult winter which saw A&E waiting times reach record levels.

Although A&E performance has improved since the start of the year, key treatment time targets were again missed earlier this month.

NHS 24 staffing has been increased to help cope with the demand and up to £8m is being provided to health boards to alleviate pressure from delayed discharge.

Unison, GMB and Royal College of Nursing members recently accepted the Scottish government’s pay offer, but union bosses have warned the deal “does nothing to solve” the NHS Scotland staffing crisis.

Patients are said to be “waiting too long for routine operations” and staff are working under “unacceptably stressful conditions”.

In West Dunbartonshire, Margaret Maguire and Catherine McGroggan told Sky News that the country was “suffering”.

Ms McGroggan, 73, claimed the Scottish government continues to blame a lot of the NHS’s struggles on the pandemic.

She stated: “That was two years ago, and people are still struggling to get an appointment with a doctor. I’m not online so how is someone on the phone supposed to see my hands if I’ve got an issue with them?”

Ms Maguire, 75, added: “They are playing on the pandemic too much.”

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

With all eyes on who becomes the new leader of Scotland, improving results in these key areas will be a crucial challenge for the next first minister.