Perthshire Advertiser

Swinney is confirmed as leader of the SNP

CHRIS MCCALL

John Swinney was yesterday confirmed as the SNP’S new leader after no rival candidate emerged to challenge him in the race to replace Humza Yousaf.

The veteran Nationalis­t, 60, and Perthshire North MSP has returned to lead the party for a second time as it prepares for a tough general election campaign later this year.

Swinney’s coronation came one week to the day that Yousaf dramatical­ly resigned after he faced losing a motion of no confidence in Holyrood.

The former finance secretary, a close ally of Nicola Sturgeon, will formally become First Minister later this week after a vote in the Scottish Parliament.

He will accept the position of SNP leader at a speech in Glasgow.

Swinney has spoken of his intention to unite his party after it endured a miserable 14-month period following the shock resignatio­n of Sturgeon in February 2023.

Her exit from frontline politics came just weeks before Police Scotland ramped up a long-running investigat­ion into SNP finances.

Sturgeon’s resignatio­n prompted the first open SNP leadership contest in 20 years and saw Yousaf become entangled in a bitter three-way race with Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.

Yousaf’s year-long spell in Bute House saw the Nationalis­ts slide in the polls and critics within the party openly criticise Sturgeon’s legacy.

Swinney must now attempt to put a positive spin on his decision to return as SNP leader two decades after he resigned from the job.

Keith Brown, the SNP depute leader, claimed the swap from Yousaf to

Swinney was already paying dividends.

He said: “We’ve people out canvassing and they’ve reported already an increase in positive turnout coming back from those canvassing sessions.

“So there’s been an immediate lift.” Swinney had been branded a “continuity Sturgeon” candidate by political rivals.

But he was adamant when he stated last week: “I am no caretaker.

“I am no interim leader.

“I am offering to lead my party through the Westminste­r elections, to lead us beyond the 2026 elections, to contest, which I intend to win for the

SNP and for Scotland”.

And he said he wanted to work with fellow leadership hopeful Kate Forbes to make a “united” SNP.

Addressing a press conference in Edinburgh on Thursday, Swinney added: “Only the SNP stand where the majority of people want their government to be, in the moderate centre-left of Scottish politics.

“That is where I stand and if elected by my party and by parliament my goals as first minister will come straight from that centre-left tradition – the pursuit of economic growth and social justice.”

He had said earlier: “This place reflects my values, who I am, and it’s therefore the right place for me to confirm.

“It’s the right place for me to confirm that I intend to stand for election as leader of the Scottish National Party”.

He added: “I want to build on the work of the SNP government to create a modern, diverse, dynamic Scotland that will ensure opportunit­ies for all of our citizens.

“I want to unite the SNP and unite Scotland for independen­ce.”

Swinney joined the SNP as a teenager and served as an MP at Westminste­r.

He became an MSP when the Scottish Parliament was establishe­d in 1999.