Ones to watch 2023: Politics
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
With a new year, always comes new hope but who are likely to be among the individuals to keep tabs on in 2023? Here are our ones to watch in politics.
Kate Forbes
Scotland’s finance secretary and the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP is set to make a return in the coming months to frontline politics after a period of maternity leave. She was the first front bench politician to take maternity leave marking a watershed in how politics can be more inclusive – so what can we expect from someone considered a major part of the future of the SNP?
Ms Forbes is expected to return to her position in cabinet – currently occupied by John Swinney – and when she resumes work, she will be faced by a perfect storm of problems.
The unenviable task includes issues ranging from inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and an NHS in deep trouble to a country entering or in recession, unprecedented pay disputes with public sector workers like nurses, ambulance staff and possibly even junior doctors.
And with investment seen as the main solution, the woman who holds the purse strings will be under more pressure than ever before and her handling of those and other issues could potentially determine her political future as well as that of her party. The stakes could scarcely be higher.
Douglas Ross
All the issues faced by Kate Forbes as finance secretary are potentially fertile ground for an effective opposition in Holyrood, so the question facing Highlands and Islands MSP and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross is whether he can turn them to his party’s advantage.
On the face of it, the SNP are vulnerable with one government programme after another failing to deliver what was promised from ferries to the R100 broadband scheme and question marks over the A9 and A96 dualling.
Yet the dial has barely shifted on which party controls Holyrood with the SNP now in its 15th year in power and pressure could mount on the Tory leader if the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon maintain a position as unassailable.
Mr Ross’s position is also unenviable in that he will have to convince voters in Scotland that the Conservatives – themselves in power in Westminster for 12 years – offer a fresh vision rather than more of the same.
Councillor Alasdair Christie
Highland Council will have a major job on its hands one way or another this year as it struggles to balance its books, deliver services, prevent job losses and deliver its programme.
A thorn in the side of the SNP-Independent administration is the leader of the opposition – veteran Liberal Democrat Inverness Ness-side councillor Alasdair Christie. In the first eight months of the current council, he has used every ounce of his experience and political nous to hold the administration to account and frequently embarrassed it publicly over perceived failings.
What is going to be a real challenge both for the credibility of the administration, and its potential success, is delivering a budget. If the party groups in council can collaborate then it could be relatively plain sailing, if not then life could be made very difficult for council bosses, particularly if, in the coming months, redundancies have to be made.
Alasdair also has plenty on his plate in his day job with the Citizens Advice Bureau and the demands it faces when providing help and support during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
