Kate Forbes

Name: Kate Forbes
Start: 2026-06-11T17:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-06-11T18:00:00+01:00
Location: Harmony Marquee

Former Deputy First Minister Kate reflects on her meteoric political career, from MSP at 26 to resigning in 2025 to prioritize family life with her four children.

Thursday, 11 June 2026

8:30pm ‐ 9:30pm

Harmony Marquee
Harmony Garden and Orchard, St Mary's Road, Melrose, TD6 9LJ

https://tikt.link/katef

Information

By the time the festival comes around, Kate will have left behind a brilliant, meteoric career in politics. Elected as an MSP at only 26, she became Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy two years later and then Deputy First Minister in 2024. In August 2025, Kate wrote to John Swinney, the First Minister, to say that she planned to resign so as not to ‘miss more of the precious early years of family life’ with her husband and their four children. Kate will reflect on her career in the Scottish Parliament, talk to Michael Moore about the books that shaped her views and guided what she did in life, and she will talk about the future. And perhaps she might reflect on Scottish politics in her new role as an observer rather than a participant.