THE SNP are set to run a fresh selection contest in the wake of the news that Kate Forbes will not stand for Holyrood in 2026.
The Deputy First Minister said on Monday that she would not run for a third term as the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch – despite already having been confirmed as the SNP’s candidate in the constituency.
Forbes’s position was confirmed in April when the SNP revealed that she had been the only nominee to stand in the area, meaning there is no second-place challenger to step in and take her place.
The [[SNP]] will instead have to run a fresh selection contest to decide who will represent the party in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch – a key target seat for the LibDems.
In the 2021 elections, Forbes won 56.1% of the vote, while the Tories came second on 19.3%. The LibDems were in third with 15.7%.
However, in the 2024 General Election, Angus MacDonald took the overlapping Westminster seat of Inverness, [[Skye]] and West Ross-shire for the LibDems with 37.8% of the vote against 33.3% for the [[SNP]]’s Drew Hendry.
The National has asked Hendry if he intends to try and stand for the SNP in the now-vacant Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency in 2026.
The LibDems are fielding Fort William and Ardnamurchan councillor Andrew Baxter in a bid to win the seat.
The SNP announced their full slate of nominees for the 2026 Holyrood elections in May, meaning that Forbes’s constituency is currently the only area without a confirmed party candidate.
Prospective nominees needed to secure the support of 50 SNP members within the constituency. If more than one did so, the contest went to a ballot.
The SNP have been approached for comment on the timings of the new selection contest.
