Kate Forbes Says She Led 2023 SNP Contest Until Revealing She Would Have Voted Against Same-Sex Marriage

Kate Forbes said she was viewed as the frontrunner in the 2023 Scottish National Party leadership contest until she revealed she would have voted against same-sex marriage laws passed in 2014. The former deputy first minister spoke at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference at London's Olympia last week.

She told the event she was advised to lie about her views during the campaign but chose to answer questions honestly about her faith and its influence on her positions on sex, gender, marriage and family.

Forbes, who was narrowly defeated by Humza Yousaf, said the backlash was instant and fervent. She added that she received thousands of messages from people who disagreed with her but supported her right to express her conscience, including taxi drivers who called her the only honest politician. The question-and-answer session was chaired by former Australian deputy prime minister John Anderson.

He claimed Forbes had been treated grossly unfairly because of her Christian beliefs and said the contest had favoured someone every bit as committed to those views but of a different faith. First Minister John Swinney said earlier this week he would not speak at the conference because he would have nothing to do with Reform.

Forbes was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2016 and became Scotland's first female finance secretary in 2020.

She returned to the backbenches after the 2023 contest, backed Swinney in 2024 and served as his deputy before stepping down at the May election.