Kate Forbes calls for change for parents in politics after decision to quit
Scotland's Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has revealed she won't stand for re-election next year, calling for changes to how parents are supported in Holyrood.
The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP said she was stepping away to avoid missing "any more of the precious early years of family life", bringing to an end - for at least the next election cycle - one of the most promising political careers in Scotland.
In a letter to First Minister John Swinney, Forbes, who is mum to a two-year-old daughter and stepmum to three girls, urged the Scottish Parliament to do better for politicians juggling young families.
While Holyrood is often seen as more family friendly than Westminster, several women have stepped down recently citing the pressures of parenting.
Former Tory leader Ruth Davidson, ex-minister Aileen Campbell, and MSPs Jenny Marra and Gail Ross have all spoken openly about why they quit at the 2021 election.
'I'm not the first and, unless anything changes, I'm unlikely to be the last,' Ms Forbes said on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday.
'So many parents know the pressures and the guilt of balancing all of this, and I'm totally in the same camp as them.'
Ms Forbes said there was the added stress of one of the country's furthest north constituencies, meaning an 'eight hours return trip to my place of work' and sometimes 'a minimum three to four hours drive across the constituency before the day even begins'.
'There are some areas I think the Parliament could do more and do better,' the Deputy First Minister said.
She pointed to the Holyrood creche – a service which was seen as a sign of the more family-friendly ethos – which is only available for three hours per day, three days a week.
'I don't know anybody who only works three hours per day, so that doesn't make sense,' she said.
'I'm certainly not advocating for the job to be any less demanding or any less all-consuming, it has to be by its very nature of representing people.
'But if we can't even get some of the basic support right, then it will always be difficult for mums and dads.'
Despite the decision announced on Monday, the Deputy First Minister did not completely close the door to a political return, saying 'maybe' she would consider such a move in 20 years.
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Since taking over as finance secretary in 2020 after the resignation of her predecessor Derek Mackay following a scandal involving messages he sent to a 16-year-old boy, Ms Forbes has been marked for leadership.
She would ultimately lose the race for the SNP's top job after Nicola Sturgeon's resignation in 2023 in a contest marred by criticisms of her views on social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
Following the resignation of Humza Yousaf last year, Ms Forbes was handed the role of kingmaker, being the one to decide if the party would be forced to go through with a potentially damaging leadership contest, which she ultimately decided against in favour of a pact with First Minister John Swinney, becoming his deputy.
The, sometimes ugly, criticisms levelled at the Deputy First Minister, she said, were 'in the past' as she continued to voice her support for the SNP and Scottish independence.
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