The Forbes-Swinney partnership is a good move for the SNP but should there be an election?
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The people of Scotland are about to get their sixth political leader in less than two years. At this point the country will have had three Prime Ministers and in the coming weeks will see its third First Minister.
Westminster gave us Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak while Holyrood gave us Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf and now likely John Swinney.
What could John Swinney and Kate Forbes working together mean for the Highlands?
POLITICS ROUND-UP: Liz Truss resigns as several Highland MPs make call for general election
Everyone knows the UK electoral system means that voters elect parties or parliamentarians not Prime Ministers or First Ministers yet it remains a clear problem – what happens when the most powerful person in the land is replaced?
Whether it is the Conservative government in Westminster or the SNP government in Holyrood the answer is clear: new people take over and the job continues. Parliament is sovereign.
There are benefits to this system, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf for different reasons left or were forced from office mid-term – some more willingly than others.
But removing, for example, a US President from office is next to impossible and has only happened five times – Richard Nixon alone resigned over Watergate while the remaining four were assassinated.
So the parliamentary system has a flexibility not afforded the presidential, and for that reason it can be more responsive yet the question of legitimacy remains a niggle because ‘voting for parties or members’ does not dispel that people often vote on the basis of leadership.
But another issue more germane to the parliamentary system is whether the public still wants a party that repeatedly has to replace leaders, and whatever the answer is a matter for the public to determine.
We asked Highland MSPs across the political divide for their views on holding a Scottish Parliamentary election.
Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands Labour MSP
“Our motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government was tabled because removing Humza Yousaf alone would not deliver the change we need - the people of Scotland deserve a fresh start and this can only come with a Scottish election.
“Today’s announcement means even more so that we should have an election. It should be for the people to decide who leads our country – not a backroom deal, a stage-managed coronation or a small group of SNP members.
Maree Todd, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP
“Time and time again the country has put their faith in the SNP, and I have no doubt they will do so again at the next electoral opportunity".
Jamie Halcro Johnston, Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP
“Clearly under pressure to agree to the coronation of John Swinney and avoid even more internal SNP division, Kate Forbes has backed a failed former leader whose fingerprints are all over 17 years of SNP failure.
“John Swinney has already confirmed that his priority will be independence and that the SNP will remain a central-belt focused party that offers nothing to communities across the Highlands and Islands that deserve so much more.
“This isn’t a bright new start for the SNP, it’s just more of the same”.
Ariane Burgess, Highlands and Islands Greens MSP
“Scotland is a parliamentary democracy, not a presidential system, so it’s always been the case that the First Minister is chosen by parliament, rather than through direct election. “
Emma Roddick, Highlands and Islands SNP MSP
“I've never played into that kind of chat for other parties, either, so I know there's no hypocrisy when I say: we do not have a presidential democracy. We do not directly elect First or Prime Ministers in this country.
“Particularly in the Scottish Parliament, where we are supposed to be more representative and democratic and build consensus rather than it being a two-party, single majority situation, there is no reason parliament shouldn't have the flexibility to change course, change priorities, even change leader, as long as we still hold to the values proposed when we took our manifestos to the public.”
