Nicola Sturgeon has hinted the SNP could have a new leader by the time of the 2026 Holyrood election.
The First Minister insisted her "default position" was to remain in the top job when she was asked last week about her future plans by LBC's Iain Dale.
In May this year Sturgeon surpassed Alex Salmond's record as Scotland's longest serving First Minister.
In her interview with Dale, the SNP leader said: "Who in this room can say with 100 per cent certainty what we'll be doing four years from now?
"The default position is that of course I’ll fight the next election, but I will make a judgment on that nearer the time.
"This is a serious job and anybody in a job like this owes it to the public to make sure that they’re the right person to do it, that they've got the energy to do it, that they've got the appetite, that they're prepared to make the enormous commitment that a job like this involves, and to constantly be assessing and reassessing that.
"I think that's important, and I will try my best to do that."
But if Sturgeon were to step down, who could take over? Here's a few of the possible contenders
Kate Forbes
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy was thrown in at the deep end when she was tasked with delivering the Scottish Government's budget in 2020 just hours after Derek Mackay resigned.
She has won respect for her handling of a complex brief and is known as a hard worker who grasps difficult issues quickly.
But these are tough times for the economy and the spending review Forbes announced in May has proved very unpopular in many quarters.
Budgets across the public sector are being stretched to breaking point.
Forbes is currently on maternity leave but is certain to face even more tough spending decisions when she returns to Holyrood.
Humza Yousaf
One of the SNP's most experienced ministers despite being aged just 37.
The current health secretary has been an MSP for more than a decade and is one of the few Holyrood politicians who members of the public would likely be able to recognise.
He's no stranger to tough jobs having previously served as justice secretary - but his time in charge of the health brief could scarcely have been more difficult.
The NHS is struggling to clear a huge backlog in procedures, A&E waiting times remain too high, and the ambulance service is struggling to meet demand.
John Swinney
If the SNP is looking for the most experienced person to take over then they shouldn't look any further than current Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
The MSP for Perthshire North has held many of the top jobs within government - and is currently standing in for Kate Forbes as Finance Secretary while she is on maternity leave.
Swinney was also leader of the SNP between 2000 and 2004, the years after Alex Salmond stepped down for the first time.
It was a difficult period for the SNP, with Labour in the ascendancy at both Holyrood and Westminster, and the Nationalists stuck in opposition.
He eventually resigned following a number of poor results in elections.
SNP members could perhaps desire a safe pair of hands whenever Sturgeon decides to quit the top job. There are none more experienced than Swinney.
Angus Robertson
The Edinburgh Central MSP is a well-kent figure outside the political bubble thanks to his long spell as the SNP 's leader at Westminster.
If Nicola Sturgeon was to be given permission by the Supreme Court to hold another independence referendum then we could expect to see a lot more of Robertson.
He is the current Constitution Secretary and a new campaign will give him the time to show SNP members and the public how he operates.
We already know he is popular amongst the SNP membership after he was voted the Depute Leader back in 2016.
Robertson is clearly a very ambitious person. After losing his Commons seat to Douglas Ross in 2017 he set up his own pro-independence think tank.
Joanna Cherry
A real outside bet in this game of spin the bottle, but Joanna Cherry is a one-woman political tornado which the party cannot seem to contain.
The QC turned politician was a key figure in beating Boris Johnson’s illegal prorogation of parliament during Brexit but her reward was to be marginalised by the SNP leadership, and thrown off the Commons front bench by Ian Blackford.
Her crime was that she backed short-cuts to independence, including court challenges, criticised the leadership and remained far too close to the discredited Alex Salmond for comfort.
However, she did not jump ship to the Alba party and if the SNP lurches impatiently to the fundamentalist fringe after Sturgeon, Cherry is a figure who could offer an Alba amnesty to departed members and possibly hold the independence movement together at a crucial time.
But with the SNP establishment against her, Cherry's chances are slim.
Màiri McAllan
Skipping a generation might also be an attractive option for the SNP when the time comes to choose Nicola Sturgeon’s successor.
Some of the party’s strategists are tipping 29-year0old Màiri McAllan as a possible inheritor.
As Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform since May 2021 she is in charge of delivering a fairly anaemic land reform bill. Her performances in the Holyrood chamber are as robotic as any other junior minister.
However, McAllan made a big impression on party managers with a fiery appearance on BBC’s Question Time programme, throwing shade on opponents and swiftly mustering facts for her arguments.
Although she is little known to the wider public so far, McAllan is one to watch.
Her flaw may be that she appears to model herself on Nicola Sturgeon, and to achieve independence the next leader of the SNP has to be less divisive among voters than the present one.
