IN these first few days of the SNP leadership contest it’s still too early to divine which of the three candidates has enjoyed the best start. What’s clear, though, is that, apart from some ill-judged posturing by Humza Yousaf, the race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon has thus far been characterised by maturity.

Yousaf would seem to have an onerous task ahead of him in catching up with Kate Forbes and outperforming the impressive Ash Regan but if he can somehow prevent the Scottish Greens from opening their mouths and find them a creche for the duration of the contest, then who knows?

The Greens have been a disaster in government and have become a liability to the SNP. When they let it be known they would consider quitting their twin ministerial roles if Regan or Forbes became leader it must have been music to the ears of both these women.

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Regan, who was already very highly regarded inside the party, enhanced her reputation by facing down her boss on a matter of principle over the threat that self-ID in the GRR legislation posed to women’s spaces. It’s hugely ironic that had the First Minister heeded her then community safety minister’s concerns, Regan might not have felt compelled to resign.

In Sturgeon’s SNP it takes a lot of guts to oppose her, especially when you consider the bullying and harassment suffered by Joanna Cherry and its consequences.

There was no shortage of talentless glove-puppets and leadership lickspittles eager to gain favour with Sturgeon. And they knew that the quickest way of doing this was to attack any of those daring to dissent from her message.

Unfortunately for Yousaf, most of them seem to have ended up in his camp. There’s a reason for this, of course. They’ve all been bamming it up and living large on the material rewards that come with being elected to further the cause of independence.

The National: SNP minister Ash Regan

It’s no secret that if either Forbes or Regan (above) were to become leader, this long and serpentine gravy train would grind to an abrupt halt and a lot of professional hangers-on would be invited to hop off.

Yousaf is the SNP’s professional establishment candidate, the one who can be most relied upon to say “nothing to see here” and “let’s not scare the horses”.

There’s probably another election victory or two left in the professional SNP’s independence grift and with them the opportunity to retire on some of the grandest pension pots in UK public life.

Yousaf’s thinly veiled attack on Forbes this week may yet rebound on him. His inference that she would put the principles of her faith before her duty as an elected politician was both cowardly and dishonest. Sturgeon was well aware of Forbes’s deep religious convictions before appointing her to the most senior role in cabinet in 2020.

It was a wise move. The new Finance Secretary silenced all the sound and fury surrounding the demise of her predecessor Derek Mackay by mastering her brief and, within weeks, negotiating a potentially troublesome Budget and delivering it with assurance.

Forbes’s beliefs are shared by hundreds of thousands of Scots who adhere to Christianity and Islam. Suggesting these beliefs are discriminatory is an insult to the many among them who contribute massively to the greater public good in all spheres of public life.

Not very long ago, the SNP had a reputation for being hostile to Catholicism. Alex Salmond worked hard to dismantle that perception and was rewarded with a majority Catholic vote during the independence referendum. It would be a tragedy for the SNP and the wider Yes movement if such wretched and retrograde attitudes were to be given house-room once more, and even more so if they were swollen to include members of other faith communities.

In modern, enlightened and progressive Scotland are we really saying that people can’t remain personally faithful to their religious beliefs without being hounded by gangs of latter-day witch-finders? If so, then we’re heading to a dark and sinister place. One that says you must first renounce your faith before you can be offered work in the public realm.

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I thought we’d seen an end to such practices but there are some SNP politicians and activists and a handful of commentators who seem keen to reintroduce them. They fancy themselves as liberal but they’re channelling hatred for religious minorities.

Forbes was brave and astute to be honest with the public about her faith-based values. And besides, it drew out the poison for the rest of us to see and thwarted any future accusations of hypocrisy. Of the three candidates, I think Regan has made the most assured start. She is one of the few authentic left-wing politicians in the SNP and immediately set out her credentials by saying she would immediately pause the top-down and chaotically devised national care service plan which has been rejected by trade unions and health professionals alike.

She said she wanted to “create a care service worthy of the name”, adding: “That means it must be led by care experts; respect local government; be delivered locally and provide a universal service for all Scots who need it.

“As first minister I want to be known for listening and anyone who is listening knows these proposals as they stand do not have the support of the frontline staff who have to deliver them.”

Her pledge to listen more to stakeholders is a departure from the current style of the Scottish Government, where diktat by a tiny WhatsApp cartel had come to replace real discussion and debate.

Regan also vowed to concentrate on the real issues affecting the lives of marginalised and disadvantaged communities rather than the contrived and sanctimonious caprices of the platinum-lounge members who have hollowed out the SNP leadership and carved up the juiciest posts.

An indication of her favoured route of travel was evident in a tweet this week: “I will not support an accelerated net-zero path which sees us turn off the North Sea taps, throw tens of thousands of oil workers out of jobs and hollow out north-east and Highlands and Islands communities while still using and importing hydrocarbons. I will stand up for our oil workers and their communities.”

The most pressing concern for the wider Yes community is the way it’s been marginalised and made to feel like outcasts by the professional SNP actors who view them with contempt and who only talk about independence at election time.

The candidate who is most sincere about bring them back inside the tent will have a good chance of winning this contest.