Who could replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's next first minister?

Nicola Sturgeon has today resigned as Scotland's first minister after eight years in the role.

In a press conference, Sturgeon said she knew the “time is now” for her to stand down after leading the party for more than eight years – adding that it was “right for me, for my party and for my country”.

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When a politician resigns, they of course leave a vacancy needing to be filled.

With that in mind, here are the people who could replace her:

John Swinney

As deputy first minister, Swinney has the most experience of the possible candidate. He has held most top jobs in the Scottish government, including almost a decade as the finance secretary.

However, Swinney also briefly served as SNP leader after Alex Salmond unexpectedly quit before he then resigned and allowed Salmond to return.

Angus Robertson

Scotland’s constitution secretary has lots of experience and has been part of the big push to get a second referendum on independence.

However, he is disliked on the left of the party for changing SNP policy to support independent Scotland joining Nato, before the 2014 independence referendum.

Kate Forbes

File:Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Kate Forbes ...commons.wikimedia.org

Forbes is the Scottish finance secretary and Gaelic speaker, who is on maternity leave.

She delivered the Scottish government’s budget in 2020 just hours after predecessor Derek Mackay quit.

She is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, which conflicts a lot of SNP and Scottish government policies on LGBT rights.

Humza Yousaf

Yousaf, the health secretary, is one of Scotland’s most senior Muslim and BAME politicians. He has faced calls to resign crises in the NHS including delays in A&E waiting times by opposition parties, but led the country through the Covid crisis.

Neil Gray

Gray joined Holyrood in 2021, but has been a Westminster MP since 2015. He has been involved in steering the Ukrainian refugee programme.

Màiri McAllan

McAllan is a former special adviser who has only served as an MSP for two years. Some have said she could be a future leader but this is more likely to happen sometime in the future given her short tenure as an MSP.

Joanna Cherry

The QC and MP is best known for fighting against Boris Johnson’s illegal prorogation of parliament during Brexit. She has clashed with the SNP's leadership in recent years.

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