Not predicted, but perhaps predictable. Kate Forbes, a young woman whose politics are unusually values-based, is quitting Holyrood at the tender age of 35. Forbes, by some margin the outstanding SNP talent of her generation, is walking away from the job of deputy first minister and the prospect of succeeding John Swinney in the top post within the next few years.
That she is doing so in order to spend more time with her family, particularly her three-year-old daughter Naomi, is entirely in keeping with how she lives her life. Of all the politicians I have known, she is the most fiercely driven by service and faith. Her authenticity, her refusal to hear the cock crow, has cost her at times. But it also elevated her among her peers.
Forbes’s explanation of the moment that led her to make the decision during this summer recess, having already been selected as a candidate for next May’s election, rings all too true. Visiting an Indian orphanage, “there was a moment… when it just suddenly dawned on me what a great privilege it is to be a mother but also to have a parent”, she told the Times. “It’s not an inconvenience to be squeezed into the rest of my life but actually is quite a high calling.”
I’ve spoken to her often over the years, and it was always clear that the long distances and time-sacrifice involved in pursuing her career – regular five-hour drives to and from her Highland constituency and home – were a drain. The arrival of a child only added to the burden of juggling everything in a fulfilling way.
Holyrood is meant to be a family-friendly parliament, but there will always be a limit to just how family-friendly the political life can be. Not just an MSP, but a Cabinet minister holding demanding posts and, latterly, the cross-government role of deputy FM. It’s not a life that can be lived half-in, half-out. In the end, something had to give, and she has made her choice.
It is, clearly, a loss: to the government, to the SNP, and to Scottish public life. Forbes was the ballast in the Swinney administration, the senior guarantor that the Sturgeon era of increasingly radical leftism was at an end. Her very presence underwrote Swinney’s promise that his administration would be mainstream and moderate.
She was also, simply, very good at being a minister, a rarity in Edinburgh. Her civil servants rated her highly, as did their colleagues in Whitehall – she was energetic, constructive and bullshit-free. The business community saw her as their voice in government, not as a cheerleader come what may, but as an ally who understood the need for economic growth, wealth creation and innovation not just to boost national performance but also to provide the tax revenues that could fund public services and a war on poverty. She felt this naturally, in a way few of her party colleagues do.
The public liked her too. I remember sitting with her in a café in Inverness, where she was continually approached by passers-by displaying real warmth towards her. She connected with ordinary people in an unaffected, natural way. Not all of them agreed with her faith-based social conservatism, but they could detect the authenticity, and were less put off by her traditional views than the progressive campaigners who often screamed loudest. She was real, in an era of plastic politicians.
SNP high command, which Nicola Sturgeon controlled long after leaving office, did everything it could to stop her rising to the top. Humza Yousaf was, fatally, shoved forward to stop her replacing Sturgeon, and the party machine put up every block it could. Forbes was more popular with the public, and even those of us who don’t support independence could see she was the better candidate by a distance. Sturgeon got her way, Yousaf won, and then very quickly he fell. Forbes would have been good at the job.
In an era of growing political division, we need politicians like Forbes. She pursued politics and policy in a way that rose above ideology, which made her a uniter, rather than a divider. She liked to work with politicians across the political spectrum to get things done. And as Reform rises, her particular mix of hard-headedness, compassion and common sense perhaps offered a compelling pathway to tackling that threat.
The government, without her, looks thin on talent. I’m more impressed by the junior ministers than most of the Cabinet, who have been in situ too long without making much of a difference to Scots’ quality of life. In fact, they have overseen decline across the board. Forbes was one of the few motive forces towards improvement – a believer in radical public sector reform and challenging the vested interests that continue to hold the nation back.
Mark Logan, formerly Scotland’s chief entrepreneur and a senior figure at Skyscanner, the tech giant sold for £1.3 billion, worked closely with her, and said he would have given her a senior job in any company he worked for. There aren’t many at Holyrood you would say that about. It seems more likely that Forbes will do something with a social impact, though. “I will continue to be motivated by public service of some kind,” she said. “Public service is what gets me out of bed in the morning.” There is no reason to doubt that is true.
She hasn’t ruled out returning to Holyrood at some point in the future. She is young enough to raise her family and then start a political career again. One hopes her voice will continue to be heard. For now, though, the progressive left and its online warriors won’t have Kate Forbes to kick around any more. What’s that phrase? Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
[Further reading: Britain’s decline is as much intellectual as political]
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