A poll has found members of the public are backing Kate Forbes to be the next SNP leader and First Minister.
The survey also found the Finance Secretary and rival candidate Humza Yousaf are neck-and-neck among SNP voters.
The pair, along with Ash Regan, are vying to succeed Nicola Sturgeon in what has been a bitter contest.
Ahead of a Channel 4 News debate this evening, the broadcaster has released exclusive polling data from Ipsos.
According to the data, almost one in three of the public, 32 per cent, placed Forbes as the best First Minister of the three candidates, with 24 per cent backing Yousaf and just eight per cent plumping for Regan.
Among people who voted SNP at the last Scottish Parliament election, one in three (33%) said Yousaf would make the best First Minister, while another 32% said the same of Forbes.
However, it is only the 100,000 or so SNP members who are eligible to vote in the leadership contest
.
It comes as the party deals with the fall-out of a stormy debate on STV earlier this week which saw Forbes, the Finance Secretary, attack the ministerial record of her Cabinet colleague Yousaf.
That led to a backlash from some Nationalists who viewed it as a direct condemnation of Sturgeon's time in office.
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