SNP frontrunner Kate Forbes’s church jumps to her defence and accuses critics of ‘bigotry’

Scottish finance secretary lost high profile supporters after saying she would not have voted for gay marriage

The SNP leadership contender Kate Forbes’s church has jumped to her defence after she came under fire for her religious beliefs.

The Scottish finance secretary, who is one of three candidates standing to replace Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, has lost some of her high profile supporters after revealing she would not have voted for gay marriage.

She faced further criticism when she later said having children outside of marriage “would be wrong according to my faith” and that she would personally “seek to avoid” it.

And the Free Church of Scotland, of which she is a member, has now jumped to her defence, saying that it is “concerned” about “anti-Christian intolerance”.

Scottish National Party leadership candidate Kate Forbes (PA)

The church said it held to the Biblical view that humankind was created male and female, that marriage was the union of one man and one woman for life and that unborn children had the right to life.

It also accused her critics of showing a “level of bigotry” that has no place in society.

A spokesperson for the church told the Daily Mail: “These ethical convictions have been held for centuries by Christians and other religions. There is nothing new or strange about them.

“Kate Forbes is standing on the basis of her policies. The fact that she is being criticised for her Christian convictions shows a level of bigotry that has no place in a pluralistic and diverse society.”

Meanwhile, equalities minister Kemi Badenoch also came out in defence of the politician.

Speaking at a Politico event in London on Tuesday night the minister, who ran for leadership of the Conservative party last summer, said withdrawing endorsements of Ms Forbes shows “the level of un-seriousness of many of the people who engage in political activity and commentary”.

“I think that is sad because I believe in freedom of conscience,” she said. “That’s one of the things that makes this country great. It’s one of the reasons why many people want to live here.”

She added she admired Ms Forbes “for not being dishonest” about her faith and that while she personally supports gay marriage, she “would not want people to condemn me for having personal views”.

At least four prominent SNP colleagues have withdrawn their support over Ms Forbes’s views, saying the leadership candidate had crossed a “red line”.

The former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson tweeted: “I’m pretty sure that, with this, Kate Forbes has just set fire to her leadership campaign on the very same day as she launched it.”

Ms Forbes had earlier defended herself and said she had tried to “answer straight questions with straight answers” when talking about her religious views.

Kate Forbes is running to replace Nicola Sturgeon` (PA)

She told BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday: “I understand people have very strong views on these matters.

“I think the public are longing for politicians to answer straight questions with straight answers and that’s certainly what I’ve tried to do in the media yesterday.”

She added that she would defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people to live “free of harassment, fear and prejudice”.

Asked by STV News on Tuesday if she was still committed to seeing her campaign through, despite her loss of support, Ms Forbes said: “At the moment, yes.”

The ballot for SNP members to choose their party’s new leader closes on 27 March.