London, Thanasis Gavos

There are three candidates for her successors Nicola Sturgeon to the leadership of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and to the Scottish premiership after the deadline for submitting nominations that had been set for noon today passed.

It’s about him local government health minister Hamza YousafTreasury Secretary Kate Forbes and former Under Secretary of Community Safety Ash Reagan.

Candidates had to gather at least 100 supporters from at least 20 local party organizations.

Voting among SNP members will begin on March 13 and conclude on the 27th of the month, with the winner and next leader of the party and Scotland announced.

New poll shows Ms. Forbes as favorite. The 32-year-old politician, however, has sparked a backlash in Scotland and the SNP by saying her religious beliefs mean having children out of wedlock is “wrong” and she would not do it herself.

She also revealed she would have voted against the same-sex marriage recognition bill if she had been in the local parliament in 2014, as well as Nicola Sturgeon’s new bill to make it easier to recognize gender reassignment from the age of 16. Ms Forbes is currently in Maternity leave.

Ms Sturgeon unexpectedly announced her decision to step down last week after eight years at the helm of the local devolved government, citing personal rather than political reasons.