Who could replace Humza Yousaf as First Minister of Scotland?

The SNP is to hold its second leadership contest in barely a year, which now looks set to become a two-horse race.

Here are the main figures who have been mooted to succeed Humza Yousaf as party leader and First Minister.

The former deputy first minister is hugely experienced and liked within the party. He served as finance secretary in Alex Salmond’s government and deputy first minister in Nicola Sturgeon’s.

On Monday, the 60-year-old said he was giving “very careful consideration” to running and had been “overwhelmed” by messages urging him to stand.

Mr Swinney would be presented as a safe pair of hands at a time of turmoil for the SNP. He is a competent performer both in the media and in parliament.

However, his last stint as party leader was an unhappy one and he stood down in 2004 following an extremely poor European election result.

Critics claimed he would be the “ultimate continuity candidate” and described the party grandee as “yesterday’s man”.

The former finance secretary, 34, is giving “serious consideration” to standing again after narrowly losing to Mr Yousaf in last year’s leadership contest, her allies said.

Ms Forbes, a devout Christian, triggered uproar in last year’s leadership contest when she expressed opposition to gay marriage and children being born out of wedlock.

She would be expected to refine how she speaks about her beliefs in a new leadership pitch, but would still face staunch opposition from the left wing of the SNP.

Despite a rocky start and Mr Yousaf having the backing of the party establishment in the last contest, the Free Church of Scotland member only lost by a margin of 48 per cent to 52 per cent in the second round of voting.

Allies said she would likely present herself as the future of the party who would offer meaningful change, and that she had been vindicated on almost every position she took when standing against Mr Yousaf.

The Aberdeen South MP has received widespread praise within the SNP for his performance as the party’s Westminster leader after he ousted Ian Blackford.

He is viewed as extremely ambitious and was regularly touted as Mr Yousaf’s successor if the First Minister resigned after the 2026 Holyrood election.

But he was not expected to stand as it is thought that the SNP leader must also be First Minister at Holyrood, and Mr Flynn is in the wrong parliament.

His standing was also badly damaged as he is seen as one of the main architects of Mr Yousaf’s decision to scrap his coalition deal with the Greens last week, which precipitated the current crisis.

Mr Flynn, 35, announced he would back Mr Swinney, saying he was “the person with the experience to do the job and unite the party”.

The SNP Education Secretary was understood to be canvassing colleagues over a run for the party leadership.

Ms Gilruth, a former teacher, is married to Kezia Dugdale, the former Scottish Labour leader.

She was a junior minister in Nicola Sturgeon’s government, holding the transport and culture briefs before Mr Yousaf promoted her to Cabinet in the education role.

She is extremely ambitious but some of her colleagues have questioned whether she is ready for the top job.

The 40-year-old floundered during an appearance on Question Time last year, drawing heckles from the audience when she refused to say whether double rapist Isla Bryson, previously known as Adam Graham, was a man or a woman.

She fell behind Mr Swinney, saying she would be “strongly supporting him if, as I hope, he chooses to run.”

Seen as one of Mr Yousaf’s more competent ministers, he was recently promoted to Health Secretary following the resignation of his predecessor, Michael Matheson.

Mr Matheson quit after The Telegraph disclosed he charged the taxpayer for an £11,000 roaming charges bill he ran up on holiday.

An affable and well-liked figure, Mr Gray, a former journalist, was an MP before switching parliaments to Holyrood in 2021. A solid parliamentary performer, Ms Sturgeon quickly gave him ministerial office and Mr Yousaf promoted him to Cabinet.

But the 37-year-old was closely associated with Mr Yousaf, having been his campaign manager in last year’s leadership contest.

There had been speculation he may throw his weight behind another candidate rather than standing himself and he was on Monday said to be urging Mr Swinney to run.

The SNP’s young rising star with senior party insiders predicting that she is a future first minister. Extremely bright and articulate, the former corporate lawyer was a special adviser to Ms Sturgeon.

After being elected an MSP in the 2021 Holyrood election, she was immediately made a junior environment minister and Mr Yousaf promoted her to Cabinet when he became First Minister.

She is currently Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy Secretary and she has recently faced her most difficult period, facing a storm of criticism after announcing the scrapping of the Scottish Government’s key climate change target and more delays and rising costs in the SNP ferries scandal.

The timing of the contest is less than ideal for the 31-year-old if she was hoping to run, as she is pregnant with her first child and is set to take maternity leave this summer.