AN SNP MP has encouraged party members to have a “debate about policy that looks forward” as he said his party deserves “so much more than a repeat of last year” when it comes to the race to succeed Humza Yousaf.
In a thread on Twitter/X, Glasgow South MP Stewart McDonald said he was left in “despair” at how some “are approaching the leadership contest”.
“We’ve seen far too much elevating of the personal over the political, and in doing so we all end up being dragged down.
I despair at how some are approaching this leadership contest. We’ve seen far too much elevating of the personal over the political, and in doing so we all end up being dragged down. Have we learned nothing from last year - a contest at John Curtice said cost us up to 5%.
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) May 1, 2024
“Have we learned nothing from last year – a contest (that) John Curtice said cost us up to 5%,” he said.
Nobody has officially entered the race to succeed Humza Yousaf although both John Swinney and Kate Forbes have said they are considering their options.
McDonald further explained that he voted for the former finance secretary in last year’s leadership race as she is a “politician of substance, integrity and personal warmth”.
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“The views she holds that are informed by her faith are not ones I share – quite the opposite,” he added.
“But I was never willing to write her off on that basis. I was assured that she would indeed be a leader for all of Scotland and lead a government that would protect, defend and expand civil rights in the public interest.
“I chose to listen to her rather than what people told me about her. And whilst there were times I winced at some things she said, I put it down to experience rather than any darker motivation that some believe she harbours.”
The MP added that “it was obvious she had a grasp of the detail and ideas to take the country forward” and that although he recognised the “legitimate concern” around some of her views, he did not “recognise the ghoul that she has been portrayed as by some”.
READ MORE: Scottish Parliament calls out 'massively' wrong story on Humza Yousaf
During last year’s leadership contest, Forbes said she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland as a “matter of conscience”.
However, McDonald said she was “the only candidate out of three to understand the relationship between means and ends” and that “far from being a Tory right-winger, there was a Crosland-esque flavour to her economic pitch (also unfairly caricatured as Tory)”.
McDonald further added that despite speaking to Forbes over the past few days, he believes Swinney’s return “changes the game and I will back him”.
He said: “John is head and shoulders above our opponents. Some see his return as offering continuity – a word we should banish from the SNP’s vocabulary.
“I disagree. He offers security – and my goodness does the country and party want some of that. It’s my hope that, if he is leader, he would bring Kate into a senior position, as they would make a formidable pair at the top of a ‘whole of Scotland’ approach to government.
“So whether you back John (above), Kate or neither, please let us have a debate about policy that looks forward, rather than looking backwards with a motivation to settle old scores.
“The country is watching and the party deserves so much more than a repeat of last year.”
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