LONDON – Scotland’s former deputy first minister was poised to become its third leader in just over a year after taking charge of the troubled Scottish National Party on Monday.
John Swinney, who led the SNP two decades ago, was the only candidate to replace Prime Minister Humza Yousaf as party leader.
The SNP has been in crisis since long-serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon abruptly left office last year during a campaign finance investigation that ultimately led to criminal charges against her husband.
Swinney, 60, who joined the party at 15, will try to bring stability to the SNP as it fights opponents’ efforts to weaken it ahead of UK-wide parliamentary elections due later this year.
“The polarization of politics does not serve our country well,” Swinney said upon being named party leader. “I will find all who are willing to join us in good faith and seek compromises that will serve our nation well. shouting at each other and talking. More than that, we actually need to listen. As prime minister, I will do just that.”
Yousaf announced his resignation last week, following a political miscalculation in which he expelled the Green Party from the coalition government of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government. The SNP is one seat away from a majority in the local parliament, with 63 of the 128 voting seats, so it needs to partner with at least one opposition party.
The pro-independence SNP was weakened by the campaign finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, but was ultimately toppled by Yousaf’s decision to expel the Greens over differences over climate change objectives. Yousaf was unable to persuade other parties to support his minority government in the Scottish parliament.
Facing the prospect of two scheduled votes of no confidence, Yousaf resigned rather than be forced out.
Yousaf will remain prime minister until his replacement is elected. Swinney is likely to be elected to that position later this week.
Swinney thanked Yousaf for serving with “grace and dignity” and said her “moral leadership on the Gaza issue has been a light in very dark times.”
Yousaf won a bruising campaign to take over the party after Sturgeon, who was prime minister for eight years, unexpectedly resigned in February 2023.
About a month later, Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, who was the party’s chief executive, was arrested while police investigated how £600,000 ($750,000) earmarked for a Scottish independence campaign was spent.
Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, the party’s former treasurer, were later arrested and questioned at the inquiry, but were released without being charged with any crime. Murrell was charged last month with embezzlement.
Swinney served as Sturgeon’s deputy first minister during her tenure as Scotland’s leader, but stepped down when she stepped down.
Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Swinney’s background makes him unlikely to bring the change Scotland needs.
“John Swinney has teamed up with the disgraced Nicola Sturgeon and his fingerprints are all over her numerous political failures and cover-ups,” Ross said.
Swinney has committed to leading a centre-left government focused on the economy, jobs, the cost of living, the National Health Service, schools, public services and the “climate crisis”.
Swinney said he would plead his case to persuade people of the need for Scottish independence, which voters rejected in 2014. He cited Brexit and the cost of living crisis, which he blamed on UK politicians in London, as being bad for to Scotland. .
“They demonstrate why Scotland needs independence to make our own decisions and create our best future,” he said. “If someone is a supporter of independence in Scotland and wants Scotland to be independent, there is only one political party that will deliver and that is the Scottish National Party.”
Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar echoed Ross’s remarks, saying the “SNP are offering more of the same”.
“John Swinney has been at the heart of this incompetent government for 17 years and at the heart of the SNP for 40 years,” Sarwar said. “John Swinney’s record is one of failure.”
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