John Swinney launches bid to be Scotland's next First Minister
The former SNP leader puts his name forward to replace Humza Yousaf
Last updated 2nd May 2024
John Swinney has announced he plans to stand for leadership of the SNP.
Speaking at the Grassmarket Community Project in Edinburgh this morning, he told the crowd the project brings "hope to some of the most vulnerable people in society".
He then announced he would run for leader of the SNP.
He also said former Finance Secretary Kate Forbes will play a 'significant' part in his team. She is due to give a statement on the SNP leadership later today.
He said: "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.
Senior party members, including Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Scotland's Health Secretary Neil Gray and Scotland's Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, have already said they would support Mr Swinney.
John Swinney's political career in pictures
John Swinney's parliamentary career began at Westminster. While Tony Blair's New Labour swept to power in the 1997 election he became the MP for North Tayside, what was once one of the safest Conservative seats in Scotland.
Along with a young Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney was a prominent party figure as Alex Salmond led the SNP into the election for the first Scottish Parliament in nearly 300 years in 1999. They were pictured together at the campaign launch.
John Swinney was elected to the North Tayside constituency seat in the first Holyrood election in 1999, and is now among a handful of MSPs who have been there since day 1. He was given a place in Alex Salmond's shadow cabinet as spokesman on Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.
In 2000, Alex Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP. He beat Alex Neil winning 67% of the vote. But the party saw a decline in its fortunes losing seats at both the UK General Election in 2001 and the second Scottish Parliament election in 2003. After more poor results in the European Elections in 2004 he resigned, with Alex Salmond making a shock comeback to the leadership.
Alex Salmond led the SNP to an historic victory, by the narrowest of margins, in the 2007 Scottish election and formed a minority government. John Swinney was given one of the most senior Cabinet positions as Finance Secretary, a job he did until 2016.
In 2016, serving Nicola Sturgeon as the her Deputy First Minister he switched portfolios to take over as Education Secretary. In 2020 he faced a motion of no confidence following controversy about the perceived unfairness of the SQA grading system when school exams were cancelled by the Covid-19 lockdown.
John Swinney served as Deputy First Minister to Nicola Sturgeon for almost 9 years. Defending him during the confidence motion in the exams scandal she described him as: "one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics". He also resigned when Nicola Sturgeon quit, saying it had been "an honour to serve Scotland."
In 2003 John Swinney married the TV news reporter Elizabeth Quigley, at Saint Peter's Parish Church in Morningside in Edinburgh. They have a son, Matthew, born in 2010, and he has two children from his first marriage. Elizabeth has been living with Multiple Sclerosis since 2000.
The experienced politician would be seen as being able to provide calm leadership at what is a time of political turmoil for Scotland's governing party.
But it would not be the first foray into the leadership for the Perthshire North MSP.
In September 2000, he took over as leader following the first departure of Alex Salmond, having served as his deputy for two years previously.
His tenure was not a happy one.
Under his leadership, the SNP's fortunes slid, returning just five MPs at the 2001 Westminster election and 22 MSPs in the 2003 Holyrood vote.
After seeing off an attempt to oust him by a party activist, Mr Swinney stepped down voluntarily after a poor showing at the 2004 European election.
But that was not the end of his political story as he was brought back by Mr Salmond to serve as finance secretary when the SNP took power in 2007.
He served in the role for the entirety of Mr Salmond's tenure, before being appointed deputy first minister by Nicola Sturgeon when she took over.
Over the following nine years, he occupied several ministerial offices in the Scottish Government, including as education secretary, Covid-19 recovery secretary and again in finance - taking over that brief from Kate Forbes while she was on maternity leave.
During his time as Ms Sturgeon's deputy, he cemented his reputation as a dogged defender of his boss, as well as an SNP stalwart.
But it was not without its challenges, as he faced two close no confidence votes in Holyrood - first over the handling of school exams during the pandemic, and his initial refusal to publish legal advice during the inquiry into the botched handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond.
The election of Humza Yousaf as first minister saw Mr Swinney call time on his career in the Scottish Cabinet - but he is now gearing up to take the helm.