Opinion: We shouldn't miss out on a First Minister who cares about the Highlands
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Lib Dem councillor Angus MacDonald has shared an open letter of support for SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes.
Cllr MacDonald represents Fort William and Ardnamurchan, while Ms Forbes is an MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
His letter states:
A First Minister from the Highlands
I was delighted that Kate Forbes stood to be a candidate as First Minister. A Gaelic speaker, and Highland MSP, she must be the person us West Coast folk would choose over Humza Yousaf and outsider Ash Regan. Forbes is a Highlander, intelligent, and vitally for us likely to understand our desperate call for infrastructure spend to be directed here. She will understand the concerns we have with the roads, the ferries and the length of time it takes on the train to get to the cities.
The BBC reports that economic revival will be her focus, which is sensible. Scotland’s economic under-performance versus that of the rest of the UK is costing us £750 million in missing tax take per year.
If I were her, I would have wanted to avoid the job for a term, the SNP alliance with the Greens will be a nightmare for her. She is not supportive of the trans legislation, she understands the need to keep our oil and gas sector going meanwhile, knows that our roads need major investment and will find the Greens belief in zero economic growth impossible.
Her inbox will be full of challenges including Scotland’s struggling NHS, under-performing education sector and the Calmac ferry debacle. Not to mention her 104,000 SNP members demands for independence and soon.
Her moral stance is costing her dear, although surely everyone knew of her ardent Christianity before now? Almost all the SNP ministers have lined up behind Yousaf. Including Ian Blackford a fellow Free Church member, and Maree Todd, former MSP for the Highlands and Islands which could be awkward as Todd shares a Dingwall office with Forbes.
She is well ahead in the opinion polls. However, if she wins it seems the Green party will withdraw from their alliance, and how can the other SNP ministers step in behind her after what they have said. If she loses, surely she will resign and a by-election called. All difficult scenarios.
From her personal point of view Kate Forbes is not long married, her little Naomi was born less than seven months ago and perhaps she’d like another baby. She will have to move from Dingwall to Edinburgh and she will have to kiss goodbye to downtime for the next few years. The ambitious Angus Robertson has ruled himself out of the race tweeting: "As the father of two very young children the time is not right for me..."
Kate Forbes would get my vote to help us in the Highlands, but I fear that Humza Yousaf, our former transport minister and current health secretary will get the job. As First Minister might he show more interest in dualling the A9, improving the A82 and A96 and sorting out Calmac, not to mention the catastrophe that is our NHS than when he oversaw those departments? I doubt it.
Liberal Democrat councillor Angus MacDonald
