From the NHS to independence, what’s in the next SNP leader’s in-tray?

The winner out of Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes or Ash Regan will face immediate and longer-term challenges

On Monday afternoon, the Scottish National party will unveil its new leader and Scotland’s first minister-elect, after the most bruising and tumultuous contest in the party’s history. The SNP’s first leadership election in nearly 20 years was triggered in February by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock decision to resign.

The contest has been an at times vicious ideological battle between the continuity candidate, Humza Yousaf, the flag carrier for Sturgeon’s socially liberal agenda; Kate Forbes, a vocal, centre-right critic of many of Sturgeon’s policies; and Ash Regan, an ill-experienced outlier who tried to appeal to the SNP’s independence hardliners.