THE SNP LEADERSHIP SAGA DRONES ON...... Who Will Nicola Sturgeon's Replacement Be?

 THE SNP LEADERSHIP SAGA DRONES ON... Who Will Nicola Sturgeon's Replacement Be?

Will Nicola Sturgeon still be pulling the strings and calling the shots from the background?   Some commentators outside the mainstream media think that she will. After all, her favoured candidate Humza Yousaf calls himself her 'continuity candidate' and is promising to continue to pursue Sturgeon's agenda, unchanged.

Of the three contenders for SNP leadership; Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf, the combined track record of all three does not inspire confidence. All three candidates are promising to continue to push for Scottish Independence as a priority and all three claim that IndyRef2, if not full independence will be achieved, perhaps as soon as in five years time!

The mainstream media are pushing the case for Humza Yousaf to get Sturgeon's place as SNP leader and to be Scotland's First Minister. Wonder why?

The self-styled 'Sturgeon continuity' candidate - most commentators outside the SNP and the mainstream media think that he is incompetent.  But most 'liberal/progressive' journalists seem to think that he is the right man for the job. Not only that, but there are lots of rumours both inside and outside the SNP that Yousaf's campaign is being run directly from SNP party headquarters, giving him a distinct advantage.  The same rumours suggest the Humza Yousaf is being stage managed by SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, (Nicola Sturgeon's husband if you didn't know). That way 'continuity' can be guaranteed.

Humza Yousaf plays the quietly plays the race card (of course) - according to the 'Guardian' newspaper, Yousaf has 'withstood years of racism and Islamophobia'. While he quietly tries to ignore his past record as a minister at Holyrood; when he was in charge transport, or of justice and law and order Yousaf didn't exactly excel at the post and since he was the SNP minister in charge of health, NHS Scotland has gone from bad to worse.

While the other two candidates are both White women, and that should score some points with the feminists, their failures in post, their personal beliefs and position within the SNP goes against them.

Ash Regan did not exactly shine when she was SNP minister for community safety, and ideologically her resignation over the gender recognition proposals will not have endeared her to the SNP radical Left activists. Plus the rumours are that she is still close to Alex Salmond in outlook and will seek to resurrect Salmond's influence in both the SNP and at Holyrood. That will not sit well with the Sturgeon loyalists in the SNP nor with Peter Murrell and his team.

Kate Forbes did not shine as an SNP minister at Holyrood either as Scottish finance secretary and she is disadvantaged by her overt Christian beliefs; the far-Left do not like her religious position on gender issues especially same-sex marriages. The fact that Forbes is a 'Wee Free' puts her at odds with all the cultural Marxists in the SNP and risks upsetting their 'allies' in the Scottish Greens. On top of that, Kate Forbes has publicly distanced herself from Nicola Sturgeon's obsessive need to pick fights with the government in Westminster and is quoted as saying, "that it is counter productive and fruitless to follow Nicola Sturgeon's strategy of repeatedly setting target dates for a second referendum." That will certainly put her at odds with all the SNP hard-core activists.

When the victor is announced on March 27th, what will it actually mean for the people of Scotland?

Will Nicola Sturgeon still steer the SNP from somewhere in the background?

Probably more chaotic, ideologically driven politics, a failure to deliver fully on education, health, social services, transport, employment, housing and law and order.

Perhaps Police Scotland will finally come up with an answer to what happened to that £600,000 that went missing from the SNP IndyRef campaign funds ?

But don't worry the SNP will press ahead towards IndyRef2, plus identity and gender recognition and diversity.