Three days have passed since Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation as first minister – and already the SNP’s political rivals have accused the party of descending into “civil war”.
Taking centre stage yet again is the controversial gender recognition reform.
Ms Sturgeon’s final few months in the top job have been marked by a revolt by some party members and her own MSPs over trans rights.
New legislation making it easier for people to legally change their gender was passed at Holyrood but has been blocked by Westminster.
Threats and calls for unity
Speaking to The Courier this week, SNP politicians in Tayside said the trans row rebels pose a “threat” to the party’s leadership race.
But they warned candidates will fail if they attempt to capitalise on any internal divisions.
It came as MP Joanna Cherry accused former boss Ian Blackford of presiding over “misogyny and lesbophobia” in the Westminster group.
We can reveal the inside track over how the early days of the SNP’s leadership race have unfolded – including pleas for a senior figure to stand as a unity candidate.
On Thursday night, we exclusively revealed that deputy first minister John Swinney will not be seeking to replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader – a job he has already held.
However, close allies of Mr Swinney, including Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart, did try to persuade him to run.
Mr Wishart is among a number of leading SNP figures who spoke of the need to find a candidate who can unify the party behind a refreshed push for independence.
He described former SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson as a “serious candidate” and said that while he would “probably be speaking to him in the next few days”, he was not ruling out backing anyone else.
‘Malevolent characters on the fringes’
Mr Wishart was also caught up in this week’s in-fighting.
Quote tweeting an article revealing Ms Cherry had ruled herself out of the leadership contest, he wrote: “I guess we’ll all just have to live with this crushing news and move on…”
It was this tweet that led to her accusation against senior SNP MPs.
Mr Wishart called her remarks as “bizarre” and “crazy”.
And the Perth MP is concerned the row over gender recognition could become a major talking point during the coming weeks when, he insists, “it shouldn’t”.
He said: “A few malevolent characters on the fringes of our debate have tried to manipulate a lot of the conversation about Scottish independence.
“They’ve managed to successfully conflate that with concerns about gender recognition.
“My view is that we allowed these spaces to develop in the edges of our movement that were then filled by people with not the best intentions of independence at heart.
“They were just stirring up a sector that was reasonably easy to manipulate.”
‘I don’t think she’ll do well at all’
Ash Regan, who last year resigned as community safety minister in opposition to the gender recognition bill, has reportedly revealed her intention to run for leader.
Mr Wishart said: “I don’t think she’ll do well at all.
“I really don’t believe she has a big constituency in the party.
“People have got very fixed views on it all but I’d be very surprised if she made any impact on the leadership contest at all.”
Angus MP Dave Doogan agreed there is a “threat” the gender recognition debate could cast a cloud over the leadership race.
However, he said there was little chance of that materialising among candidates with any prospect of winning.
Mr Doogan said: “I think there will need to be clear water between each candidate in terms of giving the membership something to vote for rather than vote against.
“But I don’t imagine the candidates are going to tear each other apart like we saw with the Conservatives.
“Maybe some candidates will be more susceptible to that type of red mist debate than other but I certainly don’t think the people who stand a chance of winning the leadership of the party are guilty of that kind of behaviour.”
Uniting the party
Perthshire MSP Jim Fairlie insisted a prolonged debate over the controversial Bill “is exactly what we don’t need”.
“We don’t need to be raking over that all over again,” he said.
“We have to get someone who will unite the party.
“We need to get back into the centre and make sure we are doing the right things, doing them well, and making sure that the things that matter to the people of Scotland are the things we’re dealing with.”
Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, has reportedly been phoning colleagues to try to gauge levels of support.
The MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is currently on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter, Naomi, in August.
Her supporters and critics have been quick to put her CV in the spotlight.
Ms Forbes – a member of the Free Church of Scotland – is likely to face questions about her religious beliefs, particularly where they may conflict with many key SNP issues such as trans rights.
Meanwhile, her cabinet colleague Humza Yousaf confirmed he is “seriously considering” whether to bid for the leadership.
Bookmakers have the health secretary down as third favourite behind Mr Robertson, their frontrunner, and Ms Forbes.
Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party conference on Friday, deputy leader Jackie Baillie took aim at the Dundee-based politician, calling him “without a doubt the worst minister I have ever had the misfortune of shadowing”.
She said: “Having been the worst health secretary on record, his condition has deteriorated further.
“He now aspires to be the worst first minister on record. The lack of self-awareness might be considered by clinicians to be delusional.”
Dundee-based MP Stewart Hosie likened the current stage of the leadership race to “shadow boxing” and predicted formal announcements could come as early as the weekend.
“The impression I’m getting is that a lot of people are still considering their options,” he said.
“Do they want to run, do they not want to run, do they have a chance of winning? All that kind of stuff.”
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