Kate Forbes to quit politics as trans row tears apart SNP
Kate Forbes said she will not seek re-election in next year's Scottish Parliament elections, putting to bed what will have been a decade as MSP for the Highlands constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
Ms Forbes said she did not want to 'miss any more of the precious early years of family life' in a letter to John Swinney, the First Minister, posted on social media on Monday morning.
The practising Christian had been at odds with her party's leadership over her support for single-sex spaces, which she said she backed 'unequivocally' amid Sandie Peggie's employment tribunal, where the nurse is suing NHS Fife for unlawful discrimination over sharing a changing room with a trans medic.
Mr Swinney has continued to resist calls to ditch the policy of self-identification even though the UK Government blocked Nicola Sturgeon's legislation to introduce the system.
Ms Forbes was on maternity leave when Holyrood overwhelmingly voted to pass the legislation but has since said she would not have been able to support it.
The deputy first minister's announcement comes weeks after Mhairi Black, the SNP's deputy leader in Westminster, revealed she quit the party because of its insufficiently Left-wing position on trans rights.
Ms Black, who was elected to the Commons aged just 20, singled out 'the capitulation on LGBT rights, trans rights in particular' as a significant issue behind her decision, announced in July.
Pressure is mounting on Mr Swinney after rebel members challenged his independence blueprint by setting out their own radical plan.
On Friday, they unveiled a proposal to open independence negotiations with the UK Government if nationalist parties get a majority of the popular vote in next year's Holyrood election.
If selected for discussion, it will rival Mr Swinney's motion outlining his new independence plan, which the First Minister unveiled last week.
Ms Forbes is one of the SNP's most significant politicians, having finished second in the 2023 leadership election, which saw Humza Yousaf succeed Ms Sturgeon as party leader.
When John Swinney became First Minister last year, he appointed Ms Forbes to his cabinet as his deputy, also taking charge of the Scottish Government's economy portfolio.
The 35-year-old rising star has, however, consistently faced intense scrutiny over her religious beliefs around abortion and gay marriage as a member of the conservative Free Church of Scotland.
As a candidate, Ms Forbes admitted she was part of a faith which rejects sex before marriage but said the 'choices other people make' do not 'fuss' her.
In the statement announcing her decision, she said: 'I was first elected in my mid-20s, 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's most ambitious business start-0up network TechScaler.
'I now wish to step back from my public duties and focus on new opportunities to serve people.
'I 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 – which can never be rewound.'
Writing to Ms Forbes, Mr Swinney said he understood her decision and thanked her for her contributions.
Mr Swinney said: 'You have made a huge contribution to public life in Scotland and have been instrumental in making progress on economic issues for my government.
'You have much to be proud of in all of the work you have undertaken but I am especially heartened by the effect of your leadership on advancing support for the Gaelic language.
'We all wrestle with the inevitable conflicts between family and public life and I sympathise with the dilemmas you have faced.'
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