The SNP has just lost their most effective candidate for independence
Scotland's Deputy First Minister is one of the few talents – perhaps the only one – on that lacklustre SNP front bench. And if it really was a party with genuine ambitions and a determination to do the best for their country, it would have elected her in 2023 when she stood as a candidate for the vacancy caused by Nicola Sturgeon's resignation.
That was the opportunity for the SNP to put Sturgeon's egotistical madness and her determination to become an international figure behind it and elect someone with a fresh outlook on the genuine priorities of Scottish people. Issues such as the appalling gap in educational standards between rich and poor Scots, the shocking NHS waiting times, and Europe's worst drug death record.
But there wasn't really much of a chance of her party electing her. They knew she was the best candidate, with a stack of academic achievements and a genuine appeal to a wide cross-section of Scottish society.
But as the voting system was announced, and after Sturgeon made it plain that she wanted her disciple Humza Yousaf as her successor, the die was cast.
And just to rub salt in the wound, no sooner had Yousaf been sworn in as First Minister than he offered Forbes the post of rural affairs minister that she was quick to reject – it was a significant demotion from her the post as finance minister. But many SNP members had another – and to my mind disreputable – reason for withholding their support for Forbes becoming SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland: her religious beliefs.
She is a member of the Free Church of Scotland. As a result, many SNP members rejected her views on gay marriage, abortion and trans rights. And she was further criticised for saying that having children outside of marriage was 'wrong'. However, she insisted that she would have been 'haunted' had she not answered questions about her religious beliefs.
Her defeat by Yousaf saw his continuation of the disastrous Sturgeon policy agenda, but when he resigned she declined to contest the leadership, leaving the way clear for John Swinney to be elected unopposed.
However, she accepted Swinney's offer as Deputy First Minister but while he tried to unpick Sturgeon's unpopular legacy, her presence – and perhaps even influence – on the national political stage appeared to diminish.
At this stage we're left with the public explanation for her decision not to contest next year's Scottish Parliament election, but an intelligent politician such as she has shown herself to be would surely have been able to see clearly how the land lies with her party.
It is essentially returning to the bare bones of its political agenda, and has decided to focus its campaign next year almost entirely on independence.
As Ms Forbes will understand, there's nothing else for the nationalists to try and 'sell' to the voters; certainly not its education and NHS policies. And there appears to be very little support for breaking up Britain in this troubled world.
As is often the case in Scottish politics, Scottish Labour's deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie, summed up the situation best. In offering Kate Forbes her best wishes she added:
'Kate Forbes was the future once – but now, like many of her counterparts in the SNP, she can see the writing on the wall. The truth is this is a tired government with no vision and no ideas.'
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