Kate Forbes

In August 2015, Forbes was selected from an all-women shortlist by local SNP members as their candidate for the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency held by Dave Thompson who would not be standing at the next election. She was part of an SNP campaign to address the gender pay gap around employment in the Highlands.[10] She was elected in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, doubling her votes from her predecessor from 4995 to 9045.[3][11][12]

Forbes speaking at 2018 SNP Conference

As a backbencher, Forbes was Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Gaelic. In March 2018, she delivered an entire speech to the parliament in Gaelic during a plenary debate on the language.[4] She has spoken in favour of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status as a possible way to protect the language.[13] She campaigned for local issues, such as: increasing the number of foster carers in the Highlands and also launched a national campaign to ban the use of plastic straws in Scotland.[14]

In May 2018, Forbes called on the government to let children practise religious belief in school without mockery, saying "I wanted to note that pupils should be allowed to explore, develop and understand the diversity of religious faith in Scotland because if they can understand it in school you will hope that as they go through the rest of their life they will be tolerant of people who believe that things are different to them."[15]

On 27 June 2018, she was appointed to the Scottish Government as Minister for Public Finance, as part of a wider reshuffle announced by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.[5][16] She was the first woman to be appointed to the government, who was born in the same decade as the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

On 6 February 2020, she became the first woman to deliver the Scottish Budget upon Derek Mackay's resignation as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work. Prior to this, no woman had delivered a Budget in either the Scottish Parliament or Westminster, although they have in the Welsh Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly, but those legislatures have fewer financial powers than Scotland's.[6]

Forbes with Florent Menegaux, Chief Executive of Michelin at Atlantic Quay Glasgow

On 17 February 2020, Forbes was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Finance—the first woman to hold the post.[7] Her response to MacKay's resignation was praised by opposition parties and the SNP, and is subject to speculation to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader, when she steps down in the future. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, she was re-elected with a majority of 15,681 votes, 7,000 more than in the previous election.[8] Sturgeon formed her third administration and re-appointed Forbes as Finance Secretary, with economy added to her portfolio, as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy.

In July 2022, John Swinney took on responsibility for the Finance and Economy portfolio as Forbes went on maternity leave. She is the first Cabinet Secretary in the Scottish Government to take paternal leave.[17][18]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of England ordered a round of quantitative easing in order to keep UK borrowing affordable and interest rates low. SNP policy is that during the early years of independence Scotland would use sterling without a formal currency union and so would not have a central bank that could perform quantitative easing.[19] In December 2021 Forbes responded to a query on this issue and posed the question, "Would it be such a great loss not to be able to conduct quantitative easing?"[20][21] When the issue was raised at a session of First Minister's Questions, Forbes' query was labelled "economically illiterate" by Labour MP Ian Murray.[22]

Ahead of Christmas 2021 Forbes delivered her budget in which she spoke of "very difficult choices" because of the "acute" problems posed by Covid.[23] All 32 of Scotland's Council leaders wrote to the Scottish Government to complain about Forbes' £371 million cut in real terms to local authority funding. Cosla President Alison Evison said, "Many in the meeting described this settlement for local government as the worst they had seen. Council leaders were clear last night that we could not sit back and simply accept this and there was a real strength of feeling that enough is enough."[24]

Forbes visiting Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre ahead of the 2022 Scottish budget.

In December 2021, Forbes introduced the 2022 Scottish budget, detailing the government's spending proposals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also outlined the recent election win pledges made by the SNP and the policies of the SNP-Green agreement.[25][26]

Forbes laid firm her commitment to keep income tax rates the same, however, the budget increased the thresholds at which it is paid for low income earners.[27][28] For Scottish landfill tax, standard rates and lower rates are set to be increased, while land and buildings transaction tax rates will remain at the same level.[29] Forbes announced the council tax freeze, which was imposed last year, would come to an end.[30][31] This gives councils in Scotland the ability to set their own rates for the first time since the SNP came into power in 2007.[32] The budget set out £1.95bn to begin the delivery of the Adult Disability Payment, with a total £4bn funding into social security. This includes £197m to double the Scottish Child Payment, from £10 to £20.[33]

In March 2022 Forbes launched a report outlining Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation, which is her plan to improve Scotland's economy over the following 10 years.[34]

During the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Forbes told business leaders she wanted a second Scottish independence referendum to be held once the "immediate impact" of the pandemic was over.[35]

In 2018, Forbes made an anti-abortion statement at a prayer breakfast, claiming the treatment of the "unborn" is a "measure of true progress" one day after a Westminster debate on abortion.[36]

In April 2019, Forbes was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter calling on the Scottish Government to delay its manifesto commitment to reform the Gender Recognition Act in Scotland.[37] In January 2022, she told The Times that her position had not changed, that the Scottish Government should not rush to change the "definition of male and female" and claimed the Scottish Government "risked creating bad law".[38] A member of the Scottish Cabinet, she refused to say whether she would back the legislation.[39]

During the final voting stage in December 2022, Forbes was the only SNP MSP to abstain.[40]