Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Poll: Who do YOU want as next first minister of Scotland… and what should they do?

Use our online poll to support Kate Forbes, Humza Yousaf or Ash Regan and tell us what you think their priorities should be for the country.

Humza Yousaf, Ash Regan and Kate Forbes are in the running to lead the Scottish Government. Image: DC Thomson
Humza Yousaf, Ash Regan and Kate Forbes are in the running to lead the Scottish Government. Image: DC Thomson

Nicola Sturgeon is about to be replaced by one of three SNP candidates, but there won’t be a national election to decide who is first minister.

Just like last year’s Conservative party vote, the default national leader will be selected by a small group of paid-up party members.

They will of course be keen to get the best person for the job in place.

But if you’re not in the SNP, you will have to live with that choice until the next Holyrood election, like it or not.

So we want to ask all of our readers, regardless of party colours: Who do you think should lead the country?

And when they get the top job at the end of March, what should they have on their to-do list?

Who do you want as next first minister?

The choice is:

  • Humza Yousaf, the health secretary and MSP for Glasgow Pollok.
  • Kate Forbes, the finance secretary and MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
  • Ash Regan, former community safety minister and MSP for Edinburgh Eastern.

Let us know what you think should be the priority for the next leader in our comment section below, or on social media by sharing the article.


You can catch up on all their latest activities, pledges and hustings on our politics pages online and in print.

Conversation