The next leader of the SNP is set to be chosen on Monday afternoon following a contentious five-week leadership race.
Health secretary, Humza Yousaf, finance secretary, Kate Forbes, and former community safety minister, Ash Regan, are all vying to replace Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister announced in February that she would resign after more than eight years in the job once her successor has been chosen.
“In my head and in my heart, I know that time is now, that it is right for me, for my party and for the country. And so today I am announcing my intention to step down as First Minister and leader of my party,” Ms Sturgeon said as she announced her resignation on 15 February.
Mr Yousaf, Ms Forbes and Ms Regan have taken part in around 16 hustings as part of the contest.
SNP members have until midday to vote for their new leader – and Scotland’s next first minister, subject to Holyrood approval.
The result of the leadership race is set to be revealed at around 2pm on Monday at the BT Murrayfield stadium in Edinburgh.
On Tuesday, a vote will be held in Holyrood to select the next first minister.
The leadership contest has been a turbulent period for the SNP, with acrimonious clashes between candidates, in-fighting and the sudden resignation of chief executive and Ms Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, following controversy over the transparency of SNP membership numbers.
In February, the party had strongly denied what it called a “malicious and wholly inaccurate” Sunday Mail report revealing that 30,000 members left the party.
But figures published on Thursday as part of the SNP leadership election confirmed that the party’s membership had indeed fallen by 31,698 members since 2021.
At the start of the contest, following the announcement of the first two candidates – Mr Yousaf and Ms Regan – the SNP leadership race was marred by claims that the party’s establishment was trying to influence the contest.
Mr Yousaf, 37, a frontrunner alongside Ms Forbes, is seen as the continuity candidate. The pair have particularly clashed over their records in Government and their social views.
Polls put the candidates almost neck and neck, with Mr Yousaf favourite among SNP voters, according to an Ipsos Scotland survey of 1,023 Scots, with a net favourability of 11 per cent, compared with 6 per cent for his rival, Ms Forbes.
But the finance secretary is viewed more favourably by the general public, with a net popularity rating of minus 8 per cent, compared with the health secretary’s minus 20 per cent.
Ms Regan is widely considered an outsider for the job. She had a net favourability of minus 24 per cent among the general public, and minus 7 per cent with SNP voters.
