But punters continue to back Yousaf

This is how the S Times is reporting its Panelbase poll of Scottish voters. Note though that it will be SNP members who finally decide:

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23 per cent) would like Forbes to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, who announced her resignation this month, while 15 per cent favour Yousaf and 7 per cent prefer Ash Regan, the former community safety minister..Among SNP supporters Forbes leads Yousaf as the favoured successor by a much narrower margin of two points. Forbes polled 20 per cent, with Yousaf on 18 per cent and Regan on 9 per cent.

What we need is an SNP members poll which as we have seen in other leadership contests have been pretty good predictors.

Mike Smithson