Stephen Flynn being lined up for a long term keep Kate out strategy in SNP leadership battle [Video]

Senior SNP insiders have told The Independent that there is a succession plan in place to prevent the party from moving to the right under a potential Kate Forbes leadership in the future.

Ms Forbes has ruled herself out of making a second bid for the leadership in just over a year, in a move that should ensure former deputy first minister John Swinney is unopposed as a replacement to Humza Yousaf.

But senior party sources have claimed that Mr Swinney, who was previously leader in a disastrous period for the SNP between 2000 and 2004, is “only a stopgap” option until the next Scottish parliament election in 2026.

An SNP MP, who is an ally of Mr Yousaf and his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, said that the plan is for the party’s current Westminster leader Stephen …