![\"Kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_01J8MR7B8KJ72DBYPSYP1PQTQD.jpg\")
Kate Forbes<\/p>\nForbes was viewed by many in the SNP as a future leader of the party.<\/p>\n
10:14, 04 Aug 2025Updated 11:23, 04 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
Kate Forbes<\/p>\n
Kate Forbes<\/a> has announced she will quit the Scottish Parliament next year instead of seeking re-election.<\/p>\n The MSP for Skye and Lochaber was appointed Deputy First Minister<\/a> by John Swinney last year and was viewed by many in the SNP as a future leader of the party.<\/p>\n Forbes, 35, previously quit the Scottish Government Cabinet in 2023 following the election of Humza Yousaf as First Minister following a bitter leadership contest<\/a> which saw her personal religious views become a major talking point.<\/p>\n But she returned to the front bench in May 2024 after Swinney succeeded Yousaf as party leader and First Minister following a disastrous year for the SNP.<\/p>\n Forbes has a young daughter with her husband Ali MacLennan as well as three step-daughters. In a letter to Swinney, saying she did not want to “miss any more of the precious early years of family life”.<\/p>\n The Deputy First Minister said: “It has been a great honour to serve Highland communities for almost a decade. I am grateful to every voter who re-elected me at the last election with the biggest majority in Scotland.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Hospitals branded ‘death traps’ after over 250,000 falls recorded<\/a>READ MORE: John Swinney urged to crackdown on plastic pollution ‘fuelling climate crisis’<\/a><\/p>\n “As I reflected over recess, I have concluded that I do not wish to seek re-election for another five year term in the Scottish Parliament.<\/p>\n \u201cAll politicians face a choice at every election to stay on the same path or not. Quite simply, I\u2019ve decided on the latter. I remain wholly supportive of the First Minister just as when I backed him to be leader of the SNP and I look forward to campaigning for the SNP at the next election \u2013 to lead Scotland to independence.<\/p>\n \u201cI was first elected in my mid-twenties, dedicating my most formative adult years to public service. In that time, I presented multiple Budgets, supported thousands of businesses and workers during Covid-19 and launched Scotland\u2019s most ambitious business start up network TechScaler. I now wish to step back from my public duties and focus on new opportunities to serve people.<\/p>\n \u201cI have grown up in the public eye, getting married, having a baby and raising a young family. I have consistently put the public’s needs ahead of my family’s during that time. I am grateful to them for accommodating the heavy demands of being a political figure. Looking ahead to the future, I do not want to miss any more of the precious early years of family life \u2013 which can never be rewound.<\/p>\n \u201cI am very grateful to everybody I’ve worked with – in my constituency office, the party and Government. It\u2019s not an easy environment and I will leave public office with the highest respect for the journalists who hold us accountable, MSPs across the chamber and hard working volunteers in every community.\u201d<\/p>\n Forbes was first promoted to a Cabinet position in February 2020 in dramatic circumstances after she was made Finance Secretary just hours before the Government was due to deliver its Budget.<\/p>\n She stepped in to replace Derek Mackay<\/a> after his sudden resignation after he was caught up in a sexting scandal.<\/p>\n First elected as an MSP In 2016, Forbes was viewed early on as a political high-flyer.<\/p>\n But her campaign to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader in February 2023 quickly ran into trouble on account of her socially conservative personal views<\/a>.<\/p>\n She came under fire for her views on gay marriage after she said she would have voted against it if she had been an MSP at the time.<\/p>\n And she was further criticised after suggesting having children outside of marriage was “wrong” according to her faith as a member of the Free Church of Scotland.<\/p>\n![\"Kate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2_Humza-Yousaf-Is-Sworn-In-As-Scotlands-First-Minister.jpg\")
Kate Forbes narrowly lost to Humza Yousaf in the SNP leadership race in March but could lead a rebellion against him(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n