Kate Forbes’ SNP leadership bid is dead and she only has herself to blame. In an astonishingly inept statement, the evangelical Christian said she would have opposed same sex marriage had she had been an MSP in 2014.
Claiming that having children outside of marriage is wrong also looks weird and judgemental. Members of a socially liberal, centre-left party such as the SNP will not elect a right-winger like Forbes. Her candidacy has become a joke.
Her justification for her hardline views will only further antagonise her growing list of critics. She claimed same sex marriage is a “conscience” issue, despite many people believing it is a fundamental question of human rights.
Her justification for her hardline views will only further antagonise her growing list of critics. She also insisted she was only following the “mainstream teaching” of her church. But many Christians supported equal marriage on the grounds that “love is love” and the status quo was discriminatory.
Forbes is choosing to believe that same sex relationships are not of equal value and choosing to believe gay men and lesbians should not be able to marry their partners. She is trying to use her faith to justify dodgy views that have no place in 21st century Scotland. What is at issue is her political opinions, not her religious convictions.
Forbes’ argument that she will respect existing rights - a line previously used by Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg - is irrelevant. Progressive SNP members will feel deeply uncomfortable voting for someone who holds these opinions, even on a “private” basis.
Initially-supportive MSPs deserting is a sign of a disintegrating campaign, but questions need to be asked of these erstwhile supporters. They were naive in not carrying out due diligence on Forbes and have been left looking like gullible fools.
The winner from this fiasco is Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, who has gone from Twitter laughing stock to red hot favourite in less than a week. He is scooping up support from senior SNP MSPs and Ministers who are desperate to keep their jobs. The race is his to lose.
Forbes, meanwhile, is a spent force. Rarely has someone crashed and burned so quickly.
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