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Kate Forbes

Kate Elizabeth Forbes (born 6 April 1990) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic from 2024 to 2026. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy from 2020 to 2023. Forbes was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch from 2016 to 2026.

Born in Dingwall, Forbes was raised in India and Scotland and was educated at a Scottish Gaelic-medium school, where she became fluent in Scottish Gaelic. She earned a BA degree in history at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and then an MSc in diaspora and migration history from the University of Edinburgh. After completing her degree, Forbes worked for a short time in the Scottish Parliament as a researcher for the SNP MSP Dave Thompson. Forbes was elected as an MSP at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election and quickly rose within the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon appointed Forbes as Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, serving as the deputy to the Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay. After Mackay resigned, Forbes was appointed Finance Secretary by Sturgeon. Her tenure was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland and its economic impact, and the cost of living crisis.

On announcement of Sturgeon's intention to resign as party leader and first minister, Forbes announced her candidacy for leader in the 2023 leadership election. This leadership bid drew significant attention due to her membership of the Free Church of Scotland, an evangelical Calvinist denomination with socially conservative positions, and her religious views on sexual ethics, including disavowal of sexual intercourse before marriage, opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, and opposition to most forms of abortion. She lost the election to Humza Yousaf, taking 47.9 per cent of the vote to his 52.1 per cent in the final ballot. She subsequently left government to sit as a backbencher.

Following Yousaf's resignation in April 2024, Forbes was touted as a potential candidate to succeed him in the 2024 SNP leadership election but she ultimately chose not to stand and endorsed John Swinney. After Swinney became First Minister in May 2024, he appointed Forbes as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic in his government. On 4 August 2025, Forbes announced that she would be stepping down as an MSP at the 2026 election. Provided by Wikipedia