Who are the SNP candidates running to be Scotland's new leader?
On Monday, voting will close in the contest to succeed Nicola Sturgeon and become Scotland's next first minister.
Ballot papers were sent out to tens of thousands of SNP members, who were tasked with choosing their party's new leader.
The SNP is the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, which means whoever wins the contest will go on to become the country's sixth first minister.
In the running is a rebel aiming to unite independence parties, a Sturgeon ally with a decade of ministerial experience and a divisive trailblazer.
Here's what you need to know about Kate Forbes, Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan.
Kate Forbes
Many polls have put Ms Forbes as the favourite for the top job.
Born in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, Ms Forbes spent much of her early years going between a Gaelic school in Scotland and studying in India, after relocating with her family.
She studied history at Cambridge University, before going on to earn a MSc in diaspora and migration history in 2013.
She got her start in politics by working for Dave Thompson, her predecessor in the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency, and was also employed as an accountant.
Ms Forbes was elected in the 2016 Holyrood election, almost doubling the votes Mr Thompson had received in the previous election from 4,995 to 9,045.
She sat on the SNP backbenches until 2018, convening the Parliament’s cross-party group on Gaelic and leading key debates on the importance of the language.
In June 2018, she became the minister for public finance during a reshuffle by Nicola Sturgeon.
In 2020, Ms Forbes became the first woman to deliver a budget in either Holyrood and Westminster.
Ms Forbes became the first cabinet secretary in the Scottish government to take maternity leave. Deputy First Minister John Swinney stepped in to replace her in July.
However, she is predicted to return to work earlier than expected after announcing her candidacy to replace Ms Sturgeon as first minister.
She was one of 15 politicians to sign a public letter urging the Scottish government to delay its controversial gender reforms.
And in January 2022, prior to her maternity leave, she said her position was unchanged, expressing fears the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act could be a “bad law”.
Questions have been raised on how Ms Forbes’ beliefs, if she wins the leadership, would impact on the policies of her party.
Her religious faith has been a significant talking point. Ms Forbes is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, with concerns raised over the church’s strict views on abortion and same-sex marriage.
However, she has previously brushed off questions about whether her faith will conflict with her party’s policies, including on the issue of buffer zones around abortion clinics.
She said: “I make my own decisions on the basis of what decision is right and wrong, according to my faith, not according to the diktat of any church.”
Humza Yousaf
Mr Yousaf is currently the Scottish Health Secretary and one of the SNP’s most senior and high-profile ministers.
The 37-year-old will hope to tap into the same base of activist support as the first minister, particularly in Glasgow – which they both represent at Holyrood.
After studying politics at Glasgow University, Mr Yousaf began working as an office manager for the SNP’s Bashir Ahmad.
Following Mr Ahmad’s death in 2009, Mr Yousaf went on to work for other MSPs including Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
After being elected in 2011 as a Glasgow region MSP, he took his oath to the Queen in English and in Urdu.
He did the same when re-elected in 2016, wearing both a kilt and sherwani to reflect his Scottish and Pakistani heritage.
Mr Yousaf’s first ministerial appointment came under Mr Salmond’s leadership in September 2012, when he became minister for external affairs and international development.
He stayed on in a junior ministerial role when Ms Sturgeon became first minister, though he was then promoted to the transport portfolio and later justice.
But his introduction of the Hate Crime Bill while justice secretary was not uncontroversial, with critics saying it put undue limits on free speech.
Perhaps his greatest challenge has come as Health Secretary, with Mr Yousaf taking over the post from Jeane Freeman in 2021 as she stood down from Holyrood.
The coronavirus pandemic was still affecting Scotland at that point.
Throughout his time in the role, he has faced opposition attacks over the performance of the NHS, particularly A&E waiting times.
This hit a nadir in December 2022, when performance against the four-hour target for admission, transfer or discharge fell to just 62%.
Mr Yousaf has always emphasised the impact of the pandemic on the health service and the support being provided by the Scottish government.
Mr Yousaf has stood by Ms Sturgeon throughout his time as a minister and MSP.
On the issue of gender recognition reform, which has seen rare divisions emerge in the SNP, there is no indication he would take a different tack.
Ash Regan
Ash Regan is best known as a prominent SNP rebel after she resigned from her ministerial position in protest at the Scottish government’s gender reform plans.
The 48-year-old MSP for Edinburgh Eastern has pledged to “reinvigorate” the Scottish National Party, promising more power to party members.
She will be hoping to connect with party members who want more focus on the campaign for Scottish independence, with controversial gender reform plans to be dropped.
As first minister, she would aim to unite the wider independence movement, creating a "convention" of all pro-independence groups.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry has already came out in support of Ms Regan’s candidacy, saying she has shown “courage” and “leadership” in standing against the gender reforms.
Ms Regan attended primary school in Scotland before moving to Cumbria and went on to work in marketing and PR at various firms after studying international relations at Keele University.
She later earned a diploma in public relations at the London School of Public Relations in 2007, and a MSc in development management at the Open University.
Her first foray into politics came when she became the head of campaigns and advocacy at the Common Weal – a pro-independence think-tank in Scotland.
She went on to become prominent in the Women for Independence (WfI) movement, joining its national committee in January 2014, and actively campaigned for Yes Scotland.
Ms Regan joined the SNP after the public rejected Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum.
She was selected as the party’s candidate for the Edinburgh Eastern constituency ahead of the 2016 Holyrood elections, replacing the incumbent SNP Kenny MacAskill.
Her victory was high profile as she defeated Kezia Dugdale, who was Scottish Labour leader at the time.
Ms Regan took 47.3% of the vote share, compared to Ms Dugdale’s 33%.
The first two years of Ms Regan’s time in the Scottish Parliament were spent on the backbenches, where she served as parliamentary liaison officer to the cabinet secretary for culture, tourism and external affairs. She also sat on the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee and Holyrood’s Finance and Constitution committee.
In November 2017, she was moved from the economy committee to the health and sport committee, where she was appointed deputy convener.
But following the first minister’s cabinet reshuffle in June 2018, Ms Regan became the minister for community safety, succeeding Annabelle Ewing.
Ms Regan continued as community safety minister until 2022, when she resigned over the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act.
In a statement, she said her conscience would not allow her to support the plans.
The relationship between Ms Regan and Ms Sturgeon became a talking point after her resignation, with the first minister claiming the ex-minister did not approach her about her concerns – a claim vehemently denied by Ms Regan.
As she announces her candidacy to replace Ms Sturgeon, ditching the gender reforms and being in favour of a full focus on Scottish independence, are set to be at the top of her campaign agenda.