HUMZA Yousaf has taken aim at leadership rival Kate Forbes in his new book as he accused her camp of having “no intention of playing a constructive role” during his time as first minister.
Although his new book “Under Fire” mainly tells the story of Yousaf's month-long nightmare in 2023 when he tried desperately to get his in-laws out of Gaza and back home to Dundee, the former SNP leader has also aimed at one of his old colleagues.
Yousaf said that Forbes had a “disastrous” and “clumsy” leadership campaign where he claimed she managed to “insult around half the parents in the country” after she said she believed having children out of wedlock was “wrong”.
He also reflected on Forbes “astonishing attack” on him during a live TV debate, where he claimed her tactic to “trash” the SNP government “bombed” with the party’s members and ultimately led to his victory.
Yousaf became Scotland’s first minister in 2023 after winning 26,032 votes to Forbes’s 23,890.
Yousaf argued in his book that those who remained loyal to Forbes “had no intention of playing a constructive role” during his tenure as first minister and that they were “not for making peace”.
He added the leadership contest had been “an unedifying sight” and his fellow contenders, both Forbes and Ash Regan, did not have “introspection and reflection” on what happened.
“Shortly after Nicola’s resignation, we had spoken on the phone about running on a joint ticket with me as leader and Kate as my deputy,” Yousaf wrote.
“My powers of persuasion were clearly not good enough, though, and she announced her intention to run for leader herself on the day of my campaign launch.
“Her campaign got off to a disastrous start. She struggled to answer the most predictable questions about how her religious beliefs might conflict with the policies of a progressive political party such as ours.”
Forbes ignited controversy in February 2023 after she said she would not have voted for equal marriage in 2014, leading several of her backers to withdraw their support for her run at the SNP leadership.
Forbes is a member of the Free Church and said at the time that same-sex marriage clashed with her views as a member of the church.
She also said that she did not feel self-identification was sufficient grounds on which an individual could change their gender in law – putting her at odds with the Scottish Government’s gender recognition reforms at the time.
At the time, Out for Independence, the LGBT+ group affiliated to the SNP, said it was “incredibly disappointed with the way this leadership campaign has been conducted and the tone and language that have been adopted toward the LGBT+ community”.
In his book, Yousaf reflected on Forbes losing the backing of many MSPs following her comments regarding LGBT+ communities, and how they also ultimately switched their support for him.
He wrote: “The problem for many people was not Kate’s faith but her clumsy articulation of it, alienating minority groups and making them feel, in their own words, as if they didn’t belong in Kate Forbes’ Scotland.
“In the first few days of her campaign, she cast doubt over existing laws - such as same-sex marriage legislation - suggesting she would be open to repealing it.
“She also managed to insult around half the parents in the country by telling them that having children out of wedlock was wrong.”
Yousaf said the backlash to Forbes' comments led to political commentators suggesting “there was no room for people of faith in politics”, but he argued that in his experience “they could not be more wrong”.
“I am a person of faith,” he wrote.
“Like anyone, my daily practice can vary, but I pray, fast during Ramadan, eat only halal meat and, most importantly, I believe with conviction in the central tenets of my faith.
“I have never shied away from being a proud Muslim.
“That faith has never stopped me from supporting everyone’s rights - including those of the LGBTQI community, who are often the first in line to defend the rights of Muslims under attack.
“It is, to me, very simple: my rights, as a Muslim and a person of colour, do not exist in a vacuum. You either believe in everyone’s rights, or you are selective in your application of rights. I choose to believe in and advocate for universal rights.”
Yousaf said Forbes “controversial” comments meant that Forbes went from “being the runaway favourite” to replace Nicola Sturgeon, to people questioning her suitability as an SNP MSP “almost overnight”.
He added: “It was probably that feeling of being cornered that led Kate to make an astonishing attack on me, live on television during our first televised debate.
“Not only did Kate trash the record of the SNP government - a government she belonged to - by calling it ‘mediocre’ but she also launched a blistering attack on me: ‘You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now, as health minister, we’ve got record high waiting times. What makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?’
“That stung. But as a tactic to win an internal election contest, it bombed. In fact, it was probably the moment Kate handed the election contest to me on a plate.
“If there is one thing I know about SNP members, they despise friendly fire, especially in public. And publicly dissing the record of Nicola Sturgeon who was, and remains, immensely popular, went down like a bucket of cold sick with our party membership.”
Yousaf went on to say “the tone became more measured from all of us” over the televised and radio broadcast debates that followed, but said, “the damage was done”.
He added: “An overwhelming number of elected MSPs supported my campaign but, after I won, the small faction that was loyal to Kate, were not for making peace.”
Forbes claimed in July this year that she was seen as the “slam dunk” candidate to lead the SNP until she publicly set out her conservative Christian views on equal marriage.
The former deputy first minister told an audience at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London that she had been strongly advised to conceal her beliefs by her campaign team – but insisted that voters respect politicians who are honest about matters of conscience.
During a question and answer session at the Olympia venue hosted by former Australian deputy prime minister John Anderson, Forbes said her bid to succeed Nicola Sturgeon was initially regarded “as a bit of a slam dunk”, adding: “I was very much in the lead.”
Asked if it had been difficult to stick to her beliefs under pressure, she told the event: “All these wonderfully committed team members, who wanted me to win, had great advice – just lie and you’ll be fine.
“I ended the first 24 hours just so thankful that, in the face of the questions, I hadn’t crumbled.
“The end result felt like a victory because during that period I thought I had not given in when I could have.”
