John Swinney – the SNP veteran who has pledged to unite the party

The Perthshire North MSP has announced his bid to be Scotland’s next first minister.

John Swinney has pledged to unite the SNP (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Holyrood’s longest-serving deputy first minister has announced he will stand for the top job in Scottish politics as the SNP seeks its second new leader in the space of 13 months.

Several high-profile figures in the party have already backed John Swinney as the best candidate for the post in the wake of Humza Yousaf’s abrupt resignation as First Minister.

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 former Tayside North MP.

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, the Perthshire North MSP 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.