KATE FORBES has hinted at a return to politics in around 20 years.
It comes after the Deputy First Minister announced yesterday that she will not seek re-election in the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency next year, bringing to an end – for at least the next election cycle – one of the most promising political careers in Scotland.
But the SNP MSP didn’t rule out a return on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Tuesday.
"Maybe," she told the programme’s host, Gary Robertson, when asked.
"I do not know if you will still be around in 20 years’ time but maybe we will be having a conversation at this point."
Forbes also called for a change in how parents in Holyrood are supported.
In her letter to First Minister John Swinney announcing she will be standing down, Forbes said she did not want to “miss any more of the precious early years of family life”.
Forbes – who has a two-year-old daughter and three step-daughters – pushed the Scottish Parliament to be better for those with young families working in politics.
The Parliament was viewed as a more family-friendly version of the Westminster legislature, but recent years have seen a number of women step back, citing the pressures on young parents.
Former Tory leader Ruth Davidson, former minister Aileen Campbell and MSPs Jenny Marra and Gail Ross were among those who were outspoken about the toll of politics on family life and its role in their decisions to step down.
“I’m not the first and, unless anything changes, I’m unlikely to be the last,” Forbes said on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday.
“So many parents know the pressures and the guilt of balancing all of this, and I’m totally in the same camp as them.”
Forbes said there was the added stress of one of the country’s furthest north constituencies, meaning an “eight hours return trip to my place of work” and sometimes “a minimum three to four hours drive across the constituency before the day even begins”.
“There are some areas I think the Parliament could do more and do better,” the Deputy First Minister said.
She pointed to the Holyrood creche – a service which was seen as a sign of the more family-friendly ethos – which is only available for three hours per day, three days a week.
“I don’t know anybody who only works three hours per day, so that doesn’t make sense,” she said.
“I’m certainly not advocating for the job to be any less demanding or any less all-consuming, it has to be by its very nature of representing people.
“But if we can’t even get some of the basic support right, then it will always be difficult for mums and dads.”
