SNP MP says 'party machine' is aiding Humza Yousaf in leadership race
SNP MP says ‘party machine’ is aiding Nicola Sturgeon’s preferred candidate Humza Yousaf in race to become Scotland’s first minister as poll shows he has only a slender lead over Kate Forbes
- Joanna Cherry said it was ‘no secret’ that officials supported the health minister
A senior Scottish National Party MP today accused the ‘party machine’ of backing a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon in the race to become Scotland’s new first minister.
Joanna Cherry said it was ‘no secret’ that senior officials within the SNP were supporting Humza Yousaf, who has spent five years in Ms Sturgeon’s cabinet.
Mr Yousaf, 37, who is Scotland’s health minister, is currently vying with Kate Forces and Ash Regan to take over the Holyrood administration.
Ms Cherry, a critic of Ms Sturgeon’s transgender policies who is backing Ms Regan, told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme: ‘It’s no secret that the party machine is behind Humza and not behind Kate and Ash.’
It comes after a poll showed that Mr Yousaf was ahead with SNP members, but almost a third of them are undecided over who should be the new First Minister.
Joanna Cherry said it was ‘no secret’ that senior officials within the SNP were supporting Humza Yousaf, who has spent five years in Ms Sturgeon’s cabinet.
Mr Yousaf, 37, who is Scotland’s health minister, is currently vying with Kate Forces and Ash Regan to take over the Holyrood administration.
It comes after a poll showed that Mr Yousaf was ahead with SNP members, but almost a third of them are undecided over who should be the new First Minister.
When it was put to her that the ‘party machine’ would deny this is the case, Ms Cherry said: ‘The majority of parliamentarians who have declared are behind Humza.
‘We’ve already had a couple of cases of people wrongfully using the party’s internal mailing system to support Humza.’
On Monday, The Times reported that MSP Emma Harper had been sanctioned for using an internal email system to encourage members to vote for Mr Yousaf.
MP Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s business convener, told the newspaper: ‘The HQ team takes great professional pride in their impartiality.
‘All are working diligently and are ready to give the full weight of their support and expertise to the new party leader, whoever that might be.’
Ms Cherry said her candidate was ‘making progress’ and people should not ‘write her off’.
The Edinburgh South West MP is so far the only parliamentarian to have declared their support for Ms Regan, doing so at her campaign launch in North Queensferry on February 24.
Ms Cherry said Ms Regan showed ‘great courage and leadership’ when she resigned in opposition to the Scottish Government’s gender recognition reforms.
She said the sudden nature of Ms Sturgeon’s departure meant all the leadership campaigns had to be launched quickly with little preparation and no time to develop a policy platform.
Meanwhile Mr Yousaf has pledged to make Scotland an ‘international leader in human rights’ if he becomes Scotland’s next first minister.
The SNP leadership candidate said that he will do everything in his power to ‘protect and advance the rights of people in Scotland’ if he is elected.
He said that he will bring forward the Scottish Government’s Human Rights Bill, incorporating UN human rights treaties on economic, social and cultural rights, discrimination against women, racial discrimination and the rights of people with disabilities into Scots Law as far as possible under devolution.
And he pledged that an independent Scotland would enshrine these rights in full.
Ms Forbes, meanwhile, has pledged to create a national housebuilding body if elected as first minister.
The Finance Secretary also announced she would give councils the powers to increase council tax on empty second homes.
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