Kate Forbes SNP: Row over would-be Scottish first minister's comments on gay marriage raises important questions about public life, says former moderator

Scottish Finance Secretary Ms Forbes had been seen as the frontrunner to replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s First Minister, but her campaign has been engulfed in controversy after she volunteered her views on sexual ethics.

A member of the socially conservative Free Church of Scotland, she told Channel 4 she would have voted against same-sex marriage had she been an MSP at the time but added, “I will not row back on rights that already exist in Scotland".

Speaking of having children outside of marriage, she told Sky News: "For me, it would be wrong according to my faith, but for you I have no idea what your faith is. So, in a free society you can do what you want."

A range of senior SNP members publicly withdrew their support for her in the wake of her comments.

But former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Norman Hamilton, highlighted the reaction of UK Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch to the situation

Ms Badenoch said: “I actually admire her for not being dishonest. It’s very easy for her to tell lies, just so that she could win that election. And she's not doing that.”

The cleric added: “To be praised for not being dishonest is an important comment on the scale of dishonesty in political circles and in wider society."

He noted that one of the seven Nolan Principles for public life in the UK is honesty.

He said there was a danger that too many politicians have "no coherent worldview" and operate on a very pragmatic ethical basis during political careers.

However the danger of this, he said, was that there are "no agreed values", which can make for "chaotic" government.

And he noted that politicians who had followed their conscience in the face of strong opposition in history had been a force for good, such as David Trimble and the Good Friday Agreement and William Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade.

He concluded: "If you don't bring your own personal values to politics, whose do you bring? And why are they more important than your own".

However Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney said he “profoundly” disagrees with her, despite being “a man of deep Christian faith”.

“I think it has been unhelpful that the debate has been focused on the question of faith, because in my view it has got nothing to do with faith," he said. "The Church of Scotland undertakes same-sex marriage, and I warmly congratulate and compliment the Church of Scotland on getting carefully to that position over some years.”

Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, who is also a contender, said he does not use his Muslim faith to legislate.

“I couldn’t come on the programme in all sincerity and tell you I am able to change what Islam says about gay marriage or gay sex," he told Times Radio.

“But the question is do people use the basis of their faith when legislating? I haven’t done so, I wouldn’t do so because I don’t believe that is the job of legislators and policy makers".