Race: open and set to grow?

The race to succeed John Swinney has been thrown open with the announcement that SNP rising star Nicola Sturgeon is to contest the leadership.

Ahead of a weekend meeting of the party's ruling council, Sturgeon said she would be pitting herself against deputy leader Rosanna Cunningham for the top job.

Sturgeon, a feisty 33-year-old, had been thought set to mount a leadership bid unless Swinney quit.

She cut her teeth in the SNP's youth movement before becoming a Glasgow lawyer.

"I was privileged to work with John Swinney for four years, but it is time for a fresh start and to stop the sniping going on in the sidelines," she said.

"I believe that if we want to start tackling poverty we need the full powers of independence to do that.  

"I will lay out my policies as the campaign progresses. But we need to re-establish this party as the party of social democracy, we need to tackle social inequality - that is at the heart of what I believe."

Her decision to contest the leadership deprives Cunningham of a coronation and could prompt others to enter the race.

A former lawyer, Cunningham - still seen as favourite - is widely seen as a gradualist, who backs the party's decision to work with devolution until there is full support for independence.

Announcing her candidacy the Perth MSP said: "As the depute leader I am clear in my mind that I am the best person to succeed John and I do not believe that the party would be best served by an extended period of speculation over who might or might not stand.

"I believe I am best placed to provide a distinctly different political style while nevertheless retaining all that has been effective throughout John's leadership."

Others who could enter the race include Kenny MacAskill, who has made the transformation from left-wing rabble-rouser to respectable nationalist.

Fergus Ewing, who is married to veteran nationalist Margaret Ewing, has announced that he will contest the deputy leadership.

Whilst Alex Salmond has insisted he does not want the job, some believe he may come under pressure to return to the fold.

With Swinney having failed to connect with the voters, some nationalists believe Salmond is the only big hitter who can revive the party's fortunes in time for the next round of Holyrood elections.

Whilst Salmond is no longer an MSP, he has already announced his intention to return to Holyrood at the next election.