A third of Scots think Kate Forbes is best candidate to be next First Minister, poll suggests

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A third of Scots think Kate Forbes is the best candidate to be Scotland’s next first minister, according to a new poll.Pollsters at Panelbase asked Scots which of the three contenders running to succeed Nicola Sturgeon would be the best first minister.

Some 33 per cent backed Forbes, which put her up by 10 points from a previous poll.Meanwhile, 18 per cent backed Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf as the best candidate for first minister, with this up by three points.Support for former community safety minister Ash Regan was also up by this amount to 10 per cent.Fifty-three per cent backed Forbes when the 36 per cent of people who did not express an opinion were excluded.

Thirty per cent backed Yousaf and 17 per cent supported Regan.Panelbase also found that Forbes was the most popular of the three candidates among those who voted for independence in 2014 and those who voted for the SNP in both the 2019 Westminster election and the 2021 Scottish Parliament ballot.The poll was carried out for the pro-independence Scot Goes Pop blog.It questioned 1,013 people across Scotland, with the research taking place between Tuesday March 7 and Friday March 10.James Kelly, of Scot Goes Pop, said almost all of the interviews had been carried out after Tuesday.

This was when the first TV debate on the leadership contest took place and was where Forbes challenged the record of her rival candidate Yousaf.Those clashes saw some within the SNP criticise Forbes for her aggressive approach, saying she was damaging the party’s record in government.Kelly said: “At least as far as the general public is concerned, it appears Forbes’ robust approach in debating Humza Yousaf has paid very handsome dividends.”The research was released at the