A month after the announcement of the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon, the Scots have not yet chosen their future Prime Minister. Activists of the Scottish National Party (SNP), the independence party, have been choosing their leader since Monday, March 13, who will in turn become leader of the nation. The votes are open, with three candidates in the running, but no favorite seems to be essential. The result is to be announced on March 27, after an unprecedented ballot since 2004.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
For a month, the three candidates have been competing in debates at campaign meetings and it is now up to the members to decide between them: for the moment, no favorite stands out.
Humza Yusaf, current Minister of Health, has garnered the support of party leaders. But he has had to fight since the beginning of the campaign against his image of ” continuity candidate “, while part of the SNP would like to turn the page Nicola Sturgeon after her eight-year reign.
His main rival, Kate Forbes, distances him from the Scots in general, but they do not all have the right to choose their new leader, the vote being restricted to party activists. Very religious, the current finance minister of Scotland succeeded to reverse the trend after a difficult entry into the campaign: she had to justify her conservative positions on societal issues, going against the current government, whose party is anchored on the left.
The kingmaker is likely to be Ash Regan, also a former minister, rather conservative and widely considered the least popular. With the system of voting by classification, and therefore transferable, it is the carryover of votes from its voters which could decide between Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes.
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