Forbes faces being 'marginalised' in Cabinet of Sturgeon loyalists
Kate Forbes faces being ‘marginalised in a Cabinet of Sturgeon loyalists’, a leading political academic has claimed.
The new Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary yesterday pledged to get the country ‘firing on all cylinders’ by removing barriers to investment.
But James Mitchell, a professor of public policy at Edinburgh University, warned that John Swinney’s failure to overhaul the Cabinet will leave his new deputy vulnerable.
He claimed the First Minister ‘showed weakness in not taking advantage of the opportunity to refresh the Cabinet’.
Professor Mitchell said: ‘Kate Forbes is likely to be marginalised in a Cabinet of Sturgeon loyalists schooled in the politics of pronouncements and promises when emphasis needs to be on delivery.
Kate Forbes, front, beside John Swinney and the SNP Cabinet on the steps of Bute House
‘The economic and fiscal challenges will require hard choices that have been postponed for far too long. This will not be easy, especially with this weak Cabinet.
‘He needs to show leadership in a way that was absent last time and in these early days of his leadership he has shown some signs he knows what is needed but he has been weak in delivering on what he knows is necessary.
‘He needs to be much bolder than he has been so far. The days when the SNP could get away with spin and selfies are over.’
The academic went on to state in the Sunday Herald that ‘the inclusion of Kate Forbes, who is head and shoulders above the rest of the Cabinet, means that there is at least one highly [competent] Cabinet Secretary’.
It follows claims from critics that her appointment was a ‘stitch up’ to avoid another leadership battle that would expose the SNP’s inner turmoil.
Ms Forbes yesterday insisted she went back into the Cabinet to try to build the economy.
In a column for the Sunday Times, the ex-finance secretary said: ‘I want to get stuff done.
‘Everything is an economic policy – tackling poverty, reaching net zero, raising the revenue to invest in our public services.
‘The plan is simple. Get the economy firing on all cylinders, and it will power a better future.
‘My message is simple: Scotland is open for business. My plan is to prove that – to reduce the hurdles to investment, to market the opportunities and prioritise jobs and wages, not bureaucracy.’ Tory MSP Murdo Fraser welcomed her comments but said ‘the public will rightfully wonder if she will commit to delivering them’.
He added: ‘Given John Swinney’s “new Cabinet” is a recycled version of Humza Yousaf’s, questions will be raised as to how they’ll remedy years of SNP failure largely caused by them.’
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