The race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s First Minister is underway with the SNP meeting later on Thursday to set out a timetable for a “contested” election.
Ms Sturgeon shocked Holyrood on Wednesday after she dramatically announced her resignation, but she insisted she was not reacting to any “short-term pressures”.
“In my head and in my heart I know that time is now. That it’s right for me, for my party and my country,” the longest-sering first minister said at Bute House, her official residence, on Wednesday.
The SNP is now in the process of selecting her successor.
Michael Russell, the party’s president, said he expected that process to be “shortened” and there to be a “contested election”.
Potential sucessors to Ms Sturgeon, who led the SNP for eight years, include External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson, Secretary for Finance and Economy Kate Forbes, and deputy first minister John Swinney.
However, Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s newly-elected leader in Westminster appeared to rule himself out of the race, telling Sky News he was “not interested” in becoming the leader of the SNP.
As an MP and not a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Mr Flynn could currently only replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader, and could not replace her as Scotland's first minister.
Ms Sturgeon’s resignation follows a series of political challenges in recent months as her Government sought to push through gender reforms, only for them to be blocked by Westminster.
She insisted the row surrounding a transgender double rapist being sent to a women’s jail “wasn’t the final straw”, but said it is “time for someone else” to lead the party.
“This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment,” the 52-year-old said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanked Ms Sturgeon for her “long-standing service”, while his Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, said Ms Sturgeon had been a “formidable politician”.
Ms Sturgeon rose to power unopposed after the independence referendum in 2014, in which Scots voted to remain in the UK.
Her surprise exit led political commentators to draw parallels with the sudden resignation last month of Jacinda Ardern as New Zealand’s prime minister.
Ms Sturgeon had planned to fight the next general election as a de facto referendum on Scottish independence, but her exit now raises questions about the immediate future of the cause itself.
But she vowed to continue as an MSP on the backbenches at Holyrood and said her life-long cause of independence is “being won”.
