Race to replace Nicola Sturgeon takes a personal turn

Sean O’Grady considers the field in the contest to lead the Scottish National Party

Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf is odds-on to win the leadership contest (PA)

The race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister of Scotland is taking some unexpected turns. Some of the most obvious successors to Sturgeon have ruled themselves out, and issues of conscience have so far eclipsed debate about economics, social policy and even independence itself.

Who has the best chance of winning the SNP leadership?

If you believe the bookies, then it’s the Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf. This is slightly curious, because he has become a controversial figure during his time in that post, and wasn’t the most obvious candidate to succeed Sturgeon. Even so, he is emerging as the most assured of the available (and thinning) field, and has said he doesn’t use his faith as a basis for legislation, after rival Kate Forbes revealed she would have voted against the Scottish parliament’s same-sex marriage bill (which became law in 2013).