During the 2023 leadership contest, Yusuf defended his decision to skip the final vote on Scotland’s equal marriage legislation after it was claimed he had organized the meeting as a cover-up.
Yusuf insisted he had an “inevitable” engagement to a prisoner on death row in Pakistan, adding: “I support equal marriage. I supported him then, I support him now.”
Asked earlier this week whether he would attend an ARC event, First Minister John Swinney replied: “I certainly wouldn’t speak at a conference like that because I’m not going to have anything to do with reform.”
In response to a separate question about political unrest, Forbes said that “for too long, politicians have pretended to be able to create a utopia.”
Referring to the multiple referendums that parts of the UK have faced in recent years, she said each vote left half the population “confused and angry” and the other half frustrated when “they couldn’t see the milk and honey flowing”.
The Scottish National Party declined to comment on Forbes’ claims, but noted that Swinney led recent gay marches in Edinburgh.
Forbes, Yusuf and Anderson have been approached for comment.
First elected in 2016, Forbes quickly rose to become Scotland’s first female Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020.
She returned to the bench after losing to Yusuf in 2023, but was considering a new turn to leadership the following year.
She eventually agreed to support Swinney and was appointed his deputy.
However, she did not stand for re-election in May’s Holyrood election, citing family commitments.