KATE Forbes will hold the first public event of her campaign as she visits a Highland brewery to set out her economic vision.
The Finance Secretary will hold a press conference at the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore on Monday morning.
She will be joined by brewery boss Sam Faircliff and both will take questions from the media.
Forbes relaunched her campaign earlier this week after she faced criticism over her comments on gay marriage.
The SNP leadership hopeful said she was sorry for the “hurt” she had caused after she admitted she would have voted against legalising same-sex marriage had she been in parliament when it was passed.
Her stance put her at odds with progressive elements within the SNP – most notably Mhairi Black who launched a blistering attack on Forbes’s comments, accusing her of “intolerance”.
Despite a social media frenzy over her social stances, Forbes came out in the lead in a recent poll of SNP voters - though most said they still did not know who should lead the party.
The Finance Secretary is hailed by her allies for her command of her economic brief, with those backing her bid to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister pointing to her experience at the top of the Scottish Government.
In a speech last June, Forbes set out her vision for Scotland’s economy positing herself as a champion of entrepreneurship.
She told MSPs: “And to achieve [a wellbeing economy] we need to have a resilient, innovative and growing business base.
“That is why this government is absolutely committed to being pro-prosperity, pro-growth, and pro-business – a true champion for our job creators.”
Forbes’s campaign has enjoyed supportive comments from two big beasts of the Scottish business community, Tom Hunter and Jim McColl.
The latter, a fierce critic of the Scottish Government’s handling of the so-called ferries fiasco, told The Sunday Times Forbes was “probably the best choice the private sector has for leader”.
He added: “She can reach out to business and other people in Scotland to do what is best for our country.”
Hunter stopped short of endorsing Forbes’s leadership campaign but hinted towards his inclinations when he said Sturgeon’s resignation was a chance for the Scottish Government to reset its relationship with the business community which he believed had been ignored by the SNP.
