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.
Ash Regan, Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes at a leadership debate in Inverness earlier this month
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.
Scottish independence supporters at an All Under One Banner march in Glasgow last year
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.
Protesters took to the streets after the UK government blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
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.
Campaigner Peter Krykant laying a wreath outside the Scottish parliament to mark International Overdose Awareness Day in 2021
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.
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Sky’s Beth Rigby was joined by Nicola Sturgeon earlier this month
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”.
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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.
Wendy Duncan said Scotland is an ‘EU leader when it comes to drug deaths’
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.”
One woman told Sky News that ‘everything is going up in price, except wages’. File pic
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.
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Inflation takes surprise leap with food and booze costs to blame
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.”
Jean Whyte said she fears for those living off benefits and those not in work
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.”
Although a pay deal has been accepted, union bosses say this ‘will not solve’ the NHS Scotland staffing crisis
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.
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Scotland is in the grip of an NHS crisis
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”.
Margaret Maguire and Catherine McGroggan said Scotland was ‘suffering’
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.”
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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.
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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