JUST WHO EXACTLY IS CHOOSING NEW FIRST MINISTER?

Candidates demand party supremo provides SNP membership details to ensure confidence in fair election

- PAUL HUTCHEON

THE SNP leadership race has been hit by a secrecy row after Kate Forbes and Ash Regan demanded to know how many people are allowed to vote.

Kate Forbes and Ash Regan wrote a joint letter to party chief exec Peter Murrell saying the figures are essential to ensure a "fair" election that inspires "confidence".

They also demanded to know how many people were voting through an electronic Political Editor system and how many through a traditional postal vote.

Humza Yousaf, the bookies' favourite for the top job, has separately urged SNP HQ to publish the numbers.

SNP bosses have been accused of secrecy after refusing to say how many people can vote in the race - amid claims party membership has dropped by 50,000 to about 78,000 since 2019.

In the letter to Murrell, who is married to Nicola Sturgeon, Regan wrote: "I am writing this open letter on behalf of all the campaign teams of Ash Regan and Kate Forbes. The three demands are for the total number of paid-up members in the SNP, the number of digital voting papers sent to members and the number of physical postal voting papers issued.

She added: "We... reached out to national secretary Lorna Finn ... for this information. However, we have yet to receive a response.