SNP and opposition react to Kate Forbes’ Holyrood exit

In a statement, Ms Forbes said she had “reflected” over the summer break and wanted to “focus on new opportunities to serve people”.

“I have concluded that I do not wish to seek re-election for another five-year term in the Scottish Parliament,” she said.

“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.

“I am very grateful to everybody I’ve worked with – in my constituency office, the party and Government. It’s 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.”

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Michelle Thomson, a fellow SNP MSP, described Ms Forbes as “an astounding talent” and said she was “very sorry to see the news” of her departure.

“It’s a shocking and huge loss for the [[SNP]] and the Scottish Government,” she said. “I have no doubt she will have an outstanding career in the future.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Dame Jackie Baillie, offered warm words for Ms Forbes’ service while launching a broadside against the [[SNP]].

“As much as being an MSP is a privilege, it is also a demanding job which can make for a difficult balance between our working and personal lives,” she said. “In that spirit, I wish Kate all the very best in her future endeavours.”

But Dame Jackie also said Forbes’s departure was part of a wider trend. “Many of the SNP’s former rising stars are abandoning the stage, often to be replaced by defeated names of yesteryears and anonymous party apparatchiks,” she said. “Kate Forbes was the future once — but now, like many of her counterparts in the SNP, she can see the writing on the wall.”

Former [[SNP]] and now Independent MSP Fergus Ewing, a close ally and parliamentary neighbour of Ms Forbes, was effusive in his praise.

“Her departure will see our Parliament lose the brightest talent of her generation,” he said.

“With Alex Salmond’s passing last year, the [[SNP]] lost the best leader it ever had; with Kate’s decision, the [[SNP]] has lost the best leader it never had — but should have chosen.”

Mr Ewing took aim at the party leadership over its treatment of Forbes during the SNP leadership race, saying she had been “treated outrageously”.

“They said that as a devout Christian she was somehow not suited or fit to be First Minister of Scotland. Both the current FM and Nicola Sturgeon supported these disgraceful attacks during that leadership campaign. They have never apologised.

“Yet Kate, as a Christian, ‘turned the other cheek’ by responding to these slurs not with retaliation but forgiveness. It will be interesting to read in any memoirs that may be published whether, even now, any apology will be offered.”

Murdo Fraser, the Conservative MSP, said Ms Forbes’s departure would be a “serious loss to Holyrood and what remains of the moderate, pro-business wing of the SNP”.

Angus MacNeil, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar and a prominent figure in the Alba Party, said it was “a bad day for John Swinney”.

“If he can’t excite his deputy, Kate Forbes, on independence, he should come and work with Alba and electrify the issue,” he said. “It isn’t too late to work together to make 2026 the ‘independence election’.”

Mr MacNeil added: “Swinney has to stop being a block on independence.”

Ms Forbes’s announcement came just days before she is due to appear at The Herald’s Unspun Live event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.