Following Nicola Sturgeon’s shock announcement that she will resign as first minister, the Scotsman leads with the news that a special SNP conference planned for next month has been postponed to allow time for a successor to be chosen. The paper says Deputy First Minister John Swinney has ruled himself out of the running.
The SNP have set a six-week timetable for the leadership contest, which one source told the Scottish Sun is “wide open”. It means a new first minister could be selected by the end of March.
The postponement of the special SNP conference – which was set to debate plans to use the next general election as a de facto referendum on independence – signals Ms Sturgeon “no longer has authority over her party”, according to the Scottish Daily Mail. It says the first minister’s favoured back-up option for a referendum is now “in tatters”.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf is ready to throw his hat into the ring to become the next first minister, according to the Daily Record. Sources close to the SNP minister, a close ally of Ms Sturgeon, say he has “a lot of support”.
The Times also says the postponement of the special SNP conference is a “blow” to Ms Sturgeon’s independence strategy. The first minister had backed using a UK vote as an alternative to a referendum on independence after the UK government vetoed a referendum. The paper says Finance Secretary Kate Forbes is preparing a leadership bid, while sources close to Mr Yousaf said he was “veering” towards a crack at the top job.
One high-profile SNP politician who will not participate in the leadership contest is MP Joanna Cherry. While backing “root and branch change” in the party, the Edinburgh South West MP says she will not put her hat into the ring, the National reports.
The Herald says the new SNP leader should have time to be sworn in as first minister before the Easter recess at Holyrood. The paper also leads with a report on calls to review last year’s secondary school exam results “following the discovery of widespread disparities in success rates across the country”.
Senior SNP sources have told the Daily Telegraph that it is now doubtful the SNP special conference will go ahead at all after it was delayed, while reforms to gender recognition laws could be “parked”. The paper also reports Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to convince the DUP to back his Brexit deal to end a deadlock over border trade in Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Daily Express reports that Ms Sturgeon’s resignation could set back any vote on independence by five years. The paper cites party sources who believe it would be “unrealistic” to stage a vote before the next Holyrood or Westminster elections.
The announcement of £3.3bn profits for British Gas owner Centrica has prompted calls for the energy giant to compensate vulnerable Brits during the cost of living crisis, the i reports. MPs and campaign groups have urged Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea to “look at his conscience”.
“Just focus on finding Nikki” is the Metro’s headline, with the paper focusing on comments made by missing Nikki Bulley’s family who urged people not to make up “wild theories”. Its front page also has a teaser for an apparent spoof of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the cartoon comedy show South Park.
The Courier leads with comments from Deputy First Minister Mr Swinney, who ruled himself out of replacing Ms Sturgeon. Mr Swinney told the paper it is time to make way for a “fresh perspective” at the top of the party.
William MacDowell, the man recently convicted of the long-unsolved murder of Renee MacRae and their son Andrew, died just hours before detectives were about to question him again about where the bodies were left, the Press and Journal reports. The paper says police had hoped to “extract a confession” from the 81-year-old, who died on Wednesday.
The Edinburgh Evening News leads with tributes to firefighter Barry Martin, who died following a fire in the city centre, ahead of his funeral. Mr Martin, 38, was critically injured in the fire in the former Jenners department store last month and died in hospital four days later. Partner Shelley said she “felt utterly privileged to be his wife”.
Glasgow City Council has agreed to raise taxes, parking charges and nursery fees, as well as cutting library and museum opening hours, in a bid to make up a budget shortfall. The Glasgow Times says the controversial measures led to “political protests and accusations inside and outside of Glasgow’s City Chambers”.
The Evening Telegraph leads with a report on a man who has been ordered to pay £12k to compensate women he assaulted on a farm near Dundee when they were girls.
And the UK is in the grip of a “Zzzombie Apocalypse”, according to the Daily Star of Scotland, which says that the population has poor sleeping patterns, and that the cost of living crisis is partly to blame. According to the paper, only a quarter of Brits get five hours’ sleep and more than 90% wake in the middle of the night. Thirteen percent are too tired for “rumpy pumpy”, the paper also says.
