Kate Forbes is the favourite for the next SNP leader and first minister among Scottish voters, a poll has suggested.
The survey put Forbes ahead of her rivals despite the first days of her campaign being rocked by criticism over her views on gay marriage and having children outside of wedlock.
The Daily Record also revealed on Saturday that Forbes over her views on social issues. The survey was carried out this week.
Finance secretary Forbes is going up against health secretary Humza Yousaf and former communities minister Ash Regan to become the next SNP leader and first minister.
The Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times found that 23 per cent would like Forbes to be the next SNP leader.
Only 15 per cent said they would like Yousaf and 7 per cent said they wanted Regan.
Some 49 per cent of respondents said that they didn't know who they would like as leader.
A total of 1,026 voters in Scotland were polled between February 21 and 24.
The contest will be decided by a vote of SNP members rather than voters at large.
Forbes has been criticised after she said she would not have voted for equal marriage if she had been in parliament at the time.
She also said that parents should not have children out of wedlock and that women should not be church ministers.
These statements led to some of her early backers withdrawing their support.
The Panelbase poll also put Forbes in the lead for preference to be first minister among SNP members at 20 per cent. Yousaf was on 18 per cent while Regan was on 9 per cent.
The poll also asked voters about the candidates’ performance in their ministerial roles in terms of whether they were doing a good or bad job.
Yousaf was on minus 16 in this regard.
Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge show, he said: “Any health secretary in the midst of a global pandemic is going to face the challenges that we’re facing up here in Scotland.
“In fact, those long waits (in hospitals) are replicated in Conservative-led England or Labour-run Wales.
“So, those are common problems faced right across the UK.”
He said the health service in Scotland had avoided strike action because he had “reached out” and engaged with trade unions, and a compromise had been reached.
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