SCOTTISH Health Secretary Neil Gray has become the latest senior SNP figure to back John Swinney to succeed Humza Yousaf.
The former deputy first minister said on Monday he is giving “active consideration” to the possibility of succeeding the current first minister but he is yet to officially enter the race.
Lorna Finn, the party’s national secretary, took to Twitter/X on Monday night to confirm nominations in the race were now open.
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Writing on Twitter/X, Gray said: “Yesterday was a sad day, but today we must move forward. I believe Scotland now needs stability, experience and diplomacy to lead us forward.
“I hope @JohnSwinney will stand to be the next @theSNP leader and First Minister of Scotland as he brings all those qualities and more.”
Some bookmakers had put Neil Gray as among the favourites to replace Yousaf, although this now seems to have been ruled out given his backing for Swinney.
Gray isn’t the only senior figure to get behind Swinney, with the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also giving him his backing.
Elsewhere, former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford and the party’s depute leader Keith Brown both offered their support to Swinney.
Energy Secretary Màiri McAllan said she was “very pleased” to hear Swinney was giving consideration to becoming Scotland’s next first minister.
READ MORE: YouGov predicts Holyrood and Westminster results as Humza Yousaf quits
Speaking to Sky News on Monday, Perthshire MSP Swinney said: “I’m giving very careful consideration to standing to being leader of the SNP.
“I’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by the requests that have been made of me to do that, with many, many messages from many colleagues across the party.
“So I’m giving that issue very active consideration and it’s likely that I’ll have more to say about that in the days to come.
“I’ve got lots of things to think about, there’s the whole question of my family and I have to make sure that I do the right thing by my family, they’re precious to me.
“I have to do the right thing by my party and by my country.”
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