Kate Forbes launches bid for SNP leadership

Kate Forbes has launched her leadership bid with a pledge to listen to the party members in a pitch that will be seen as a deliberate shift away from Nicola Sturgeon’s more autocratic style.

She vowed to lead Scotland into “better days” and “unleash the full talent of the SNP, the wider Yes movement and the country at large”.

Her declaration to “reach out” to ensure that all SNP members feel “valued and able to contribute” contrasts with the frequent claims that Sturgeon’s leadership team was too close-knit and often deaf to the party faithful’s complaints.

Critics have accused the first minister of failing to heed concerns of the grassroots and relying too heavily on advice from a small inner circle.

Forbes, 32, cut short