The SNP MSP who ran Kate Forbes’ leadership campaign last year has told The Herald she is ‘glad’ the Former First Minister has reflected on offering the current Deputy First Minister a ‘job demotion’.

In a recent interview, Humza Yousaf  said he regretted offering Kate Forbes the position of Rural Affairs minister – a portfolio she swiftly rejected - after he won the SNP’s 2023 leadership election.

On Michael Gove’s new BBC show, Surviving Politics, Mr Yousaf said: “If I could turn the clock back, I think it would have made more sense to have spoken more to Kate about, ‘What role do you think you could do that is seen as senior enough so you’re not being seen as just being given a role that’s being seen as a demotion role."

"I reflect on this a fair bit and ultimately, truth be told, I didn’t get it right."

His recent comments have been welcomed by an ally of the Deputy First Minister. 

Speaking to the Herald, Michelle Thompson MSP said: “I agree with Humza. I am glad he has reflected on his decision, and it speaks well of him that he has done so.  It was the right and sensible decision by the First Minister to make her his Deputy.”

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The Falkirk East MSP added: “In my opinion, Kate Forbes was quite right to turn down what she had been offered. Her undoubted talent and the fact that she ran Humza Yousaf so close in her campaign suggested a much more senior role at that point. He correctly suggested he should have offered her a role of her choosing and where she could have made a real difference.”

The 2023 leadership contest - between Mr Yousaf, Ms Forbes and Alba MSP Ash Regan - was bitter and divisive for the party.

During an STV leaders debate, Ms Forbes criticised Mr Yousaf’s political record, saying:  "You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were justice secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we've got record high waiting times."

In his recent interview with Mr Gove, Mr Yousaf said he did not expect this sort of questioning from his ‘friend’.

The now backbench MSP said: “My advisor came out with a question like that during rehearsal and I said, ‘She’s not going to do that. Kate and I are friends.’ Then the debate happened, and she hits out with that line…and luckily because I had prepped the answer to that question, I came back and I hit back but the damage was done because my party hates yellow on yellow fighting.”

Mr Yousaf held the office of First Minister for just over a year. He formally resigned in May this year after his move to end a power-sharing deal with the Greens caused furious backlash. That same month, Ms Forbes became deputy First Minister under John Swinney.

In the interview, Mr Yousaf spoke about how his party would sometimes ‘take credit for the wins’ they ‘didn’t necessarily do’ and said the Cop26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow was an ‘incredible example’ of that.

The MSP for Glasgow Pollok reflected: “The number of times people would come up to me when I was there, and certainly the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, would shake her hand and say, ‘you did a great job putting together COP26’ and we’d say ‘thank you. It was a great effort put in from all of us.”

In his discussion with Mr Gove, the former First Minister also took time to praise the benefits of ‘back channel’ relationships with those from different parties.

In his 12-year ministerial career, Mr Yousaf said he could 'personally reach out' via WhatsApp, text or phone to people such as Michael Gove, Nadim Zahawi and Sajid Javid.

He added: "Having those back channels for any government or any political parties where there’s disagreement, differences… those backchannels are worth their weight in gold."

Agreeing with Mr Gove who described the former SNP president Mike Russell as a man who enjoyed ‘combat’, Mr Yousaf added: “You're right...if we needed bad cop to go in, you’d deploy Mike."

However, Mr Yousaf said there was a lack of true friendships in politics, saying he would count 'John [Swinney] and Nicola [Sturgeon] as friends to a point’ but his ‘real friends’ are the people he grew up with.