Who will replace Nicola Sturgeon as next SNP leader?

Three candidates have put themselves forward to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister of Scotland.

Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf are competing to become the next SNP leader.

What do we know about them and the contest so far?

The finance secretary has had a meteoric rise through the ranks of government. She was dropped into the job following the surprise resignation of Derek Mackay and was left to deliver the 2020 Scottish Budget with just a few hours' notice.

Her steady performance since then has belied her relatively young age (32) and short parliamentary career.

She was first elected to the seat of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch in 2016, but has been talked about as a future leadership contender for some time.

Announcing her campaign, she said the nation and the Yes movement were at "a crossroads" and that she had "the vision, experience and competence to inspire voters".

As finance secretary she has pushed for a "reset" of the public sector in the wake of the Covid pandemic, having set out plans which would have seen the workforce cut.

Ms Forbes is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, which follows a strict interpretation of the Bible, and has described how she has often had to "tiptoe around" her faith.

She has been on maternity leave since last summer, meaning she has not participated in some key debates within the SNP about gender reform and independence strategy.

On day one of her campaign, she said she would not have voted for the gender reform bill.

Ms Forbes also said she believed that having a child outside of marriage was "wrong" according to her religious beliefs.

And she sparked a storm after saying she would not have voted for gay marriage legislation, as a matter of conscience, had she been in parliament at the time.

A number of prominent supporters withdrew their endorsements and Deputy First Minister John Swinney questioned whether her stance on gay marriage made her "appropriate" to be SNP leader.

In reply, a spokesman for Ms Forbes said people would wonder why Mr Swinney believes a woman holding Christian views should be disqualified from holding high office.

Ms Forbes then took to social media in a bid to reset her campaign.

She said she had never intended to cause "hurt", and that she would "defend to the hilt the right of everybody in Scotland, particularly minorities, to live and to live without fear or harassment in a pluralistic and tolerant society".

And she added: "It is possible to be a person of faith, and to defend others' rights to have no faith or a different faith."

Prominent supporters: Ivan McKee, business minister

The former community safety minister is best known for quitting her government post in protest over gender reform legislation.

But the 48-year-old has also gained some prominent supporters in the legal industry, external thanks to her engagement with them during the Covid pandemic.

Ms Regan, who has been MSP for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016, says she would ditch the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

And she has called for an independence convention to "create a new vision of an independent Scotland".

She has also thrown her support behind the idea of using a future election as a "de facto referendum", saying that pro-independence parties winning over 50% of the vote would be "a clear instruction that Scotland wishes to be an independent nation".

This is a harder position on independence campaigning than either of the other candidates, who favour a more cautious approach, and Ms Regan may be targeting the hearts of party members impatient for action on the constitutional question.

The MSP has also called for members who quit the SNP over the gender reform row to be allowed back in to vote in the leadership contest - an idea laughed off as "preposterous" by the deputy first minister.

Ms Regan has also indicated support for the North Sea oil and gas industry and pledged to speed up the dualling of the A9 and A96.

At the launch of her campaign, Ms Regan said the SNP had "effectively dismantled the Yes campaign".

She said: "In recent years, the wider Yes movement has become marginalised in the fight for independence. If elected, I intend to change that."

She also said it was a "conflict of interest" for Ms Sturgeon's husband - SNP chief executive Peter Murrell - to be running the contest to select her replacement.

Prominent supporters: Joanna Cherry MP

The health secretary is part of a newer generation of SNP figures, having become a Glasgow MSP in 2011.

He is also the most experienced of the three candidates, having held a number of senior posts in government, including as transport minister, Europe minister and justice secretary.

At the launch of his campaign, the 37-year-old said he wanted to "reenergise the campaign for independence".

He said he had the experience to take on the job of first minister, but would have a "a different approach" to Nicola Sturgeon.

She had faced calls to sack Mr Yousaf over his running of the NHS in Scotland this winter, as waiting times hit record highs and doctors issued safety warnings.

But he has pointed to the pay offer made to NHS staff, which he says is likely to avoid strike action for the next financial year.

He has pitched himself as a candidate who would continue the work of Ms Sturgeon's administration and maintain the SNP's partnership arrangement with the Greens.

He is also the only candidate who has pledged to pursue legal action to defend Holyrood's gender reforms, which were blocked by the UK government. This is seen as a red line in terms of the Greens continuing support for the government.

Mr Yousaf says politics has grown too divisive, and that he has "the skills to reach across the divide and bring people together" across Scotland.

On independence, he says he wants to talk about policy rather than process, and to "grow our movement from the grassroots upwards".

Mr Yousaf, who is Muslim, missed the 2014 equal marriages vote at Holyrood as he was at a meeting, but supported the passage of the bill during its earlier stages in the parliament.

One former SNP minister, Alex Neil, told the Herald newspaper, external on Friday that Mr Yousaf had contrived to "skip" the vote by arranging this meeting 19 days in advance, and that it could have been rescheduled.

Mr Yousaf has vigorously denied such suggestions, and said the episode was being used by opponents to undermine his campaign.

Prominent supporters: Neil Gray, international development minister; Maree Todd, public health minister; Michael Matheson, net zero, energy and transport secretary; Kevin Stewart, mental wellbeing and social care minister.