SNP set for fresh Holyrood selection contest as Kate Forbes quits
Forbes's position was confirmed in April when the SNP revealed that she had been the only nominee to stand in the area, meaning there is no second-place challenger to step in and take her place.
The SNP will instead have to run a fresh selection contest to decide who will represent the party in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch – a key target seat for the LibDems.
In the 2021 elections, Forbes won 56.1% of the vote, while the Tories came second on 19.3%. The LibDems were in third with 15.7%.
However, in the 2024 General Election, Angus MacDonald took the overlapping Westminster seat of Inverness, [[Skye]] and West Ross-shire for the LibDems with 37.8% of the vote against 33.3% for the [[SNP]]'s Drew Hendry.
READ MORE: Scottish LibDem MP faces 'loyalties' questions over Conservative hire
The National has asked Hendry if he intends to try and stand for the SNP in the now-vacant Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency in 2026.
The LibDems are fielding Fort William and Ardnamurchan councillor Andrew Baxter in a bid to win the seat.
The SNP announced their full slate of nominees for the 2026 Holyrood elections in May, meaning that Forbes's constituency is currently the only area without a confirmed party candidate.
Prospective nominees needed to secure the support of 50 SNP members within the constituency. If more than one did so, the contest went to a ballot.
The SNP has been approached for comment on the timings of the new selection contest.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
SNP in chaos as Ian Blackford is lined up for comeback in wake of Forbes exit
The former leader of the SNP at Westminster has revealed he is being encouraged to seek a shock return to frontline politics following Kate Forbes ' decision to quit. Ian Blackford said he has had calls from supporters urging him to stand in the Deputy First Minister's current constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch at next year's Holyrood elections. He said he will give it 'careful consideration'. He previously opted not to put his name forward to be a candidate and last night said that standing in the election 'is not what I had in mind' prior to Ms Forbes' announcement that she would not seek re-election. Any return could reignite tensions with current SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who successfully ousted him in a coup and is also now seeking to be elected to Holyrood. It will also anger some in the party who were unhappy with his performance in the Commons, including his handling of controversies like the harassment complaint against his former chief whip Patrick Grady. It comes as Ms Forbes refused to rule out making a return to politics in the future and condemned the lack of support for MSPs who are parents. In response to rumours circulating in the Highlands that he is now set to replace her as candidate for the seat, Mr Blackford told the Mail: 'One or two people have approached me and I am grateful that people are thinking about me but I've not given any indication one way or another. 'In all honesty, I hadn't really thought about it, it wasn't what I was planning. 'It is not what I had in my mind, it really wasn't. I obviously purposefully didn't put myself forward for the Scottish Parliament a few months ago, so I don't know...' He said he has had 'a number of phone calls' from people trying to encourage him to stand and admitted that he is 'really worried about the economy' across the UK and wants to look at ways to improve it. Mr Blackford said it is 'not an easy call' to make and he 'will have to give it careful consideration'. He previously faced criticism for the way he handled a harassment complaint about Mr Grady from a junior staff member while he was SNP Westminster leader. His campaign team was also accused of hounding the late former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy ahead of the 2015 general election. He stood down as MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber at last year's general election, with the SNP going on to lose the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat which replaced it to Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald. Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: 'We'd be delighted to have Ian Blackford as an opponent. He's been a controversial figure in the Highlands for many years and we'd relish making the case that the SNP have failed on access to health and the state of the local economy. 'It was poetic to see Charles Kennedy's - and Ian Blackford's - former seat return to the Lib Dems at last year's election but it would have been even sweeter to have defeated a former SNP Westminster leader. 'I have no doubt that the Lib Dems' Andrew Baxter could defeat Ian Blackford if the humble crofter chooses to throw his hat in the ring.' A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: 'Any return of Ian Blackford to frontline politics would threaten to tear apart the SNP. 'Key figures would be fighting like Nats in a sack and old wounds would instantly be reopened. 'If John Swinney and Stephen Flynn had any hair left they'd be ripping it out at the prospect of their former Westminster leader looking to come back and settle some old scores.' If he opted to put himself forward, Mr Blackford would need to secure agreement from party HQ and the local constituency as he is not currently an approved and vetted candidate. He said: 'I suppose it depends on how people look at the change in circumstances (caused by Ms Forbes' resignation) if they would want to open things up, I don't know, I couldn't tell you that.' Asked if he would be thinking about it in the coming days, he said: 'Yeah, we'll see. Over the last wee while I've commented on issues of defence, economy and so on, and I'm still a member of the Committee of Standards in Public Life. 'I have an interest in where we are and obviously happy to have an input into our political discourse. Whether this is what I need to do to do that I don't know, in all honesty.' Mr Blackford praised the 'positive contribution' Ms Forbes had made as an MSP and minister and said it was 'sad she had taken the decision for her own reasons that she has to move on'. Meanwhile, Ms Forbes yesterday suggested she could seek a return to politics in the future following her announcement that she would stand down at next year's election. Asked by BBC Good Morning Scotland's presenter Gary Robertson if she could return to politics at some point in the future, she said: 'Maybe Gary, I don't know if you will still be around in 20 years time. We will maybe have a conversation at this point.' She also called for a change in how parents in Holyrood are supported after she announced her decision to stand down because she didn't want to "miss any more of the precious early years of family life". She said children can only be in the parliament creche for three hours a day, and said: 'If you want a diverse representative parliament who can speak for all constituent parts of Scottish society then you want parents in there too. 'If the parents feel they have to leave because of that lack of support then it means that parents outside parliament are less represented.'
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Truss ‘carries quite a lot of blame' for Tory record, Badenoch claims
Liz Truss 'carries quite a lot of' responsibility for the Conservatives' record, Kemi Badenoch has said amid a row over the party's direction. The current Tory leader said she was 'very focused on what the Conservatives are going to do now', after former prime minister Ms Truss accused her of 'repeating spurious narratives'. Speaking on a farm near Saffron Walden in her constituency, Mrs Badenoch also described herself as an 'Essex girl', and added that people from the county 'are grafters; they work hard'. The Leader of the Opposition faced questions about Ms Truss's claim that under the Conservatives, 'the economy was wrecked with profligate Covid spending by (Rishi) Sunak' and that 'the huge increase in immigration has been a disaster'. Mrs Badenoch told ITV Anglia: 'I know that, as a former prime minister and a former foreign secretary, (Ms Truss) carries quite a lot of that blame. 'The party's now under new leadership. 'I wasn't in charge during those 14 years; she was. 'That's a criticism she's probably levelling at herself.' The Tory leader also said she was 'telling the truth' about her party's record. 'I'm telling the truth that immigration was too high – that's why we have much tougher policies to fix immigration,' she continued. 'I am telling the truth that taxes were too high, that we were putting a lot of regulation on businesses, and what we're seeing is Labour making every single thing worse. 'They're doing that because they haven't learned many of the lessons that we learned. They haven't learned from our mistakes. They're making worse mistakes.' The Labour Government's mistakes include making 'no cut in spending at all – the books were not balanced', Mrs Badenoch claimed. 'We're spending more on welfare than we are on defence – that cannot continue,' she said. Mrs Badenoch had previously told The Telegraph that 'for all their mocking of Liz Truss, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have not learnt the lessons of the mini-budget and are making even bigger mistakes'. Ms Truss, who spent 49 days in Number 10, hit back when she said that 'instead of serious thinking', Mrs Badenoch was 'repeating spurious narratives'. She continued: 'I suspect she is doing this to divert from the real failures of 14 years of Conservative government in which her supporters are particularly implicated. 'It was a fatal mistake not to repeal Labour legislation like the Human Rights Act because the modernisers wanted to be the 'heirs to Blair'. 'Huge damage was done to our liberties through draconian lockdowns and enforcement championed by Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings. 'The economy was wrecked with profligate Covid spending by Sunak. The huge increase in immigration has been a disaster.' Mrs Badenoch also took questions about her identity, after she told the Rosebud podcast: 'I have not renewed my Nigerian passport, I think, not since the early 2000s. 'I don't identify with it any more, most of my life has been in the UK and I've just never felt the need to.' The North West Essex MP told ITV Anglia: 'I am definitely an Essex girl, that is a fact.' A London Assembly member before she took her Commons seat in 2017, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I represent an Essex constituency, these are my people. 'I was a Londoner, but Essex people asked me to be their MP, and I want to make sure that I do them proud. And I love this part of the world. 'It's fantastic being here. It's a rural community, and I've been talking to the farmers here. I talked about how my grandfather was a farmer, it's very hard work. 'The people of Essex and East Anglia – they are grafters. 'They work hard, and I want to make sure that we do right by them.' Mrs Badenoch spent Tuesday morning at a farm in Little Walden, where she tried her hand at harvesting wheat using a Claas Lexion combine harvester. She told farmers: 'A lot of farming just feels like constant interference. 'Everything is interfered from the minute you wake up.' Examples of interference included 'chemicals and insecticide, people you're hiring, how much you've got to pay them', plus changes to 'employers' NI (national insurance), then somebody wants to put pylons on, there's compulsory purchase, it's impacting the cost of the land, if you want to add a new farm building, there's planning applications', she said. 'It's just endless constant Government saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that, you can't move forwards'. 'And the burden in my view has now crossed the threshold.'
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Readers' Letters: Time for Jews to intervene in Gaza
Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid airdropped by parachutes into Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) A reader congratulates one of our columnists for is Gaza views. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Your columnist Joe Goldblatt is to be commended to utter the unequivocal truth that it is time for Jews to intervene to end the unfathomable grief, wholesale destruction and human agony in Gaza. Not long ago, Jews were systematically slaughtered, starved, tormented and sent to crematoria in gas chambers and death camps to perish silently. Their emaciated images are still engraved in our human consciousness. They rekindled our collective remembrance and mourning and offered us not only stories about inhumane barbarism but also stories of unswerving strength, resilience, hope and intrepidity to triumph over adversity and be an impetus for us to work for justice, equality, inclusivity, diversity, respect for human rights and dignities. Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London Bye bye Kate Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kate Forbes has announced – to all intensive purposes – that if she is to spend her waking hours dealing with children, she would much sooner deal with her own, thank you very much. The hordes of (largely male) creeps and snollygosters that have grown like fungus through much of Scottish society will celebrate the news, doubtless with fictitious references to her supposed religion inspired 'bigotry' without being able to quote one instance of a contentious – let alone partisan – statement she has made once. They always did feel threatened by a woman not afraid to do a proper day's work. With her passing goes our last politician of integrity or sense of duty, and the last positive role model of plurality for a feckless generation of secular Covenanters obsessed with ostracising anyone not signed up to their social media trending 'Sound Doctrine'. Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire The sinking SNP Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It would seem that we, the electorate, are witnessing the 'crew abandoning a sinking ship'. The number of MSPs from the SNP who have intimated their intention to stand down before the 2026 Holyrood Election is ever on the increase. Even Scotland's Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, has decided to call it a day. But anyway, there is little doubt that 7th May, 2026, will see the demise of the SNP/Green Administration at Holyrood. It is my view that following the next Holyrood Elections much less emphasis will be placed on matters which are so obviously not included within the powers granted under the Scotland Acts. The SNP Administration has, over its period in office, devoted too much time attempting to interfere with Reserved Matters – which remain under the jurisdiction of Westminster. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad If the Scottish Parliament is to continue to exist many changes will require to be implemented by the incoming Administration. Far too much emphasis has been placed by the SNP/Green alliance on matters not in any way relating to Holyrood's remit. Robert I G Scott, Ceres, Fife Vanishing acts The SNP has been and continues to be a vanishing species. Rather like the fairy tale of 'The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs', the SNP talked up North Sea gas and oil as the way in which an independent Scotland would become some kind of northern European Saudi Arabia. Then, under Nicola Sturgeon, the road to independence came to a branching of the path and she chose to abandon oil on the platform of wind power, and Scotland has been plagued by the horrific windmills ever since, with landscapes destroyed, no matter what the locals think. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This was accompanied by gender identity nonsense and, quite suddenly, the people saw that, like another fairy tale, the emperor had no clothes. Meanwhile, all the leading people in the SNP started to retire, or resign. If they didn't leave the SNP for the Alba party, they decided to leave politics when they saw the writing on the wall. Now, Shona Robison and Fiona Hyslop join Humza Yousaf as they decide to retire. Mhairi Black has left the SNP, as has Fergus Ewing. Rather like Kate Forbes, Fergus Ewing has occasionally sounded alarm at the antics of the Nats. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Now, they have lost one of the few amongst them who occasionally talked sense. Perhaps those leaving the SNP should have a theme tune? May I suggest 'It's All Over Now'. Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh Holyrood ref With the departure next year of Kate Forbes, perhaps the only nationalist MSP and minister with a slim grasp on reality, the rumblings about the very existence of Holyrood grow. I for one would welcome its going. Just think – at a stroke an instant saving of £billions. More cash for the NHS, Roads, Schools and much else. Women's Rights could be reinforced, not taken away. We could return Scotland to where it once sat proudly at the top table – a leader in engineering and nuclear and oil and gas technology. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad At last, no more perpetual Holyrood whining and blaming everyone else for Scotland's self-inflicted ills. And a final bonus of no more cash-devouring pretend embassies and multiple jollies for the SNP's boys and girls. Let us have a referendum, not on the breaking up of the UK, but on the continuing existence of Holyrood as it is. Alexander McKay, Edinburgh Max madness Your article by Catriona Stewart 'report for doomed to fail minimum income guarantee' illuminates the ongoing profligacy of a group of alleged politicians and indeed in some of their eyes 'statesmen and women'. £1.3 million spent on a pigs-might-fly scheme, where from the very outset it was patently obvious this would, if introduced, bankrupt the nation and further encourage the anti-work brigade (many of whom are SNP supporters, funnily enough) to do nothing to change their circumstances. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To even think this was a 'goer' should surely prove this lot are utterly deluded fools. They complain they do not have sufficient 'levers' to carry out policies, may we thank the Lord indeed if this is the case – blatantly obvious to anyone, this is not the case in the most devolved nation in the western world. While disagreeing with Kate Forbes on the Indie issue, I wish her well, one of the few with a moral backbone, though I suspect her leaving has more to it than juggling her private life with parliament. I am sure the example above among countless others would also be a factor. In this case one could not level the sobriquet of 'rats deserting the sinking ship' to Ms Forbes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She leaves with her dignity intact, sadly leaving the real rats still on board the doomed ship SNP. D Millar, Lauder Bird brained E Campbell's letter of 5 August quoting the death rate of birds by various methods and the likely number by the Berwick Bank wind farm, misses one crucial point, that it will be an increase on previous numbers. It is likely to be sea birds who will be the main casualties, not because cats or guns but because of machines that only work when the wind blows. Mechanical power production does not present that problem. C Lowson, Hampshire Cat protection If E Campbell's claim is correct, (letters 5 August 2025) then cats kill one quarter of all UK birds every year, which we very much doubt. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In dismissing as relatively small the number of birds that will be killed by Berwick Bank, he/she also ignores the significant cumulative impact of wind farms and the fact that many of the birds that will be killed by Berwick Bank are in serious decline and, according to the RSPB and other wildlife charities, will 'catapult some species towards extinction'. They are not the same species which will be killed by cats in our back gardens. Cats provide companionship for many, including the elderly and vulnerable in society. They provide a service in natural pest control, eliminating the need for poisons which affect the entire food chain and inflict a miserable death on many innocent creatures. Regrettably it is true that where deterrence fails to reduce the risk of birds to aircraft, birds will be shot. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While we agree that jetting off on vacation a couple of times a year is unnecessary, there are unfortunately many other reasons that make flying a necessity. We can't do without cats or planes in our lives but there is absolutely no need for any more wind farms, on or offshore. Aileen Jackson, Scotland Against Spin Cable news Let's be careful with those new Berwick Bank Wind Turbines. While those new sea wind turbines can supply 'more than twice Scotland's needs', the power they manufacture has to be led from far out to sea to the land. Twice over recent years off Orkney, the main cable that supplies them from the mainland has been mysteriously severed. Although it is once again mended, the reason for its being broken is not yet understood. Surely there is a lesson here! Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad I trust that the electricity from the new Berwick Bank power source is linked to the land by many separate cables, which hopefully arrive at widely varying points on the land. Europe has recently been considering what action can be taken to prevent some possible enemy from severing cables that already exist between the UK and Europe and we must think likewise about the power coming from the Berwick Bank. Archibald A. Lawrie, Kingskettle Write to The Scotsman
