The devout Christian who could replace Nicola Sturgeon

A massive internal battle in the SNP is set to erupt after Nicola Sturgeon announced her shock resignation.

The Holyrood veteran has led the party for eight years, making her the longest-serving and first female First Minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament.

She had been seen as a safe pair of hands for much of that time, leading the SNP to repeated election victories at UK, Scottish and local level.

But she has been mired in controversy in recent months over gender reforms blocked by Westminster and the housing of transgender prisoners.

The move threatens to unsettle the party, with Kate Forbes emerging as the frontrunner for the job.

Polling by PanelbasePolitical suggests more than two-thirds of Scottish voters do not know who should take Ms Sturgeon’s place at the helm.

Here, The Telegraph takes a look at some of her possible successors.

Often touted as a potential successor to Ms Sturgeon, up-and-coming MSP Kate Forbes has recently been on leave from her role as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy following the birth of her daughter, Naomi.

A practising Christian, she has previously noted “politics will pass” while her faith is forever.

Ms Forbes is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, which conforms to a strict interpretation of the Bible, and was rumoured to be sceptical of Scotland’s gender reforms that were blocked by the UK Government.

Former SNP minister Ash Regan, who led the rebellion against Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reforms, has emerged as a shock contender for the top job.

The Edinburgh East MSP quit her post in Ms Sturgeon’s government to vote against her plans to allow all Scots aged over 16 to change their legal sex by signing a declaration.

She is yet to publicly confirm a bid but has called for members who quit the party over the gender row to be allowed to rejoin to vote in the contest.

Perhaps among the most obvious candidates is John Swinney, Ms Sturgeon’s deputy and the Cabinet member for Covid Recovery.

He may be viewed as the sensible choice – even if only in the interim – given his extensive experience in Scottish politics.

But while he did head up the party in the early 2000s, then making him leader of the opposition, he may not be inclined to boast about his tenure – having resigned from the top post after just four years in the wake of poor election results.

One of the most familiar faces in the SNP, Angus Robertson was the party’s leader in the House of Commons from 2007 to 2017, serving under both Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon.

He headed to Holyrood as MSP for Edinburgh Central in 2021 and remains a senior figure in the party, now holding the Cabinet post of Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.

Another potential candidate is Humza Yousaf, the current Health and Social Care Secretary.

Mr Yousaf was appointed in May 2021 and was the youngest MSP elected to the Scottish Parliament at 26.

He has served in numerous roles and in 2018 was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Justice. He introduced the Hate Crime Bill, which caused controversy among opposition parties.

The field may appear crowded at this stage, but just two weeks ago Scottish Tory Murdo Fraser was so confident that Keith Brown, the deputy SNP leader, would take the reins at the top of the party that he encouraged people to take a bet. 

The Justice Secretary, a former Royal Marine, entered the Scottish Parliament in 2007 and has served in his Cabinet post since 2021. 

He has been forced to contend with the fallout from the controversial Isla Bryson case in recent weeks, ordering an urgent review into the affair and pausing the movement of transgender prisoners into women’s jails if they have a history of violence.