Same sex marriage stance sees Kate Forbes lose support of Richard Lochhead
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SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes appears to have lost the backing of Moray MSP Richard Lochhead after she revealed she would not have voted for equal marriage.
Mr Lochhead expressed delight when Highland MSP Ms Forbes joined the race to be next First Minister yesterday morning, however around 12 hours later he seemed to have changed his mind.
Ms Forbes said she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland at the time it was made legal almost a decade ago.
The finance secretary – who is against Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan in a battle to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and First Minister – said in an interview that she would not have backed the legislation, but would have “respected and defended the democratic choice that was made”.
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This development didn't sit well with Mr Lochhead who stated: "I welcomed my colleague Kate Forbes’ decision to join the SNP leadership contest given her talents and felt it would give us a real contest: new ideas and a new approach that we desperately need.
"However, I agree we can’t have a party leader who’d vote against same sex marriage."
