Swinney spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee. Following Yousaf's announcement of his resignation in April 2024, Swinney ran to succeed him at the 2024 SNP leadership election and was elected unopposed. His early premiership was marked by the loss of 39 seats at the 2024 general election, reducing the SNP to the second-largest party in Scotland and the fourth-largest party in the Westminster Parliament.
Early life
Family, education and early career
John Ramsay Swinney was born on 13 April 1964[1] in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, the son of Kenneth Swinney, a garage manager,[2] and Agnes Weir Swinney (née Hunter).[3] His uncle Tom Hunter was awarded the Victoria Cross whilst serving with the Royal Marines during the Second World War.[4] His maternal grandparents, Ramsey and Mary Hunter, were from England, having moved to Edinburgh in the 1920s.[5][6]
Swinney was educated at Forrester High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with a Master of Arts Honours degree in politics in 1986.[7] He was a research officer for the Scottish Coal Project from 1987 to 1988, a senior management consultant with Development Options from 1988 to 1992, and a strategic planning principal with Scottish Amicable Life Assurance from 1992 to 1997.[8]
Early political involvement
Swinney joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1979 at the age of 15,[9] citing his anger at the way in which Scotland had been portrayed by television commentators at the Commonwealth Games.[10] He quickly became a prominent figure in the party's youth wing, the Young Scottish Nationalist, now known as the Young Scots for Independence (YSI).[11] He served as the SNP's Assistant National Secretary, before becoming the National Secretary in 1986, at the age of 22.[12]
In 2000 Alex Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP,[16][17] which triggered a leadership contest.[18][19] Swinney ran in the election against Alex Neil.[20][21] The leadership contest was dominated by internal fights in the party between Gradualists, who advocated Scottish devolution as step towards independence, and Fundamentalists, who were suspicious of devolution and supported a more radical approach.[22][23] Swinney represented the gradualist wing and Neil represented the fundamentalists wing.[24][25] Whilst both candidates supported the position of the SNP on the centre-left, Neil was seen as the more left-wing of the two, and individuals associated with the Neil campaign argued that a Swinney leadership would drag the SNP to the right.[26][27][28]
Swinney won an overwhelming majority of votes by party delegates, securing 67.1% of votes.[29] He was appointed leader at the party's conference on 16 September 2000. Roseanna Cunningham, who endorsed Swinney in the leadership race, was elected Depute Leader.[30][31][32]
Tenure
Internal party divisions
Swinney's leadership quickly came under challenge. His subdued style of debating technique was often contrasted with that of his more charismatic predecessor.[33] In 2002 Dorothy-Grace Elder, the SNP MSP for the Glasgow region, resigned her party membership after coming dissatisfied with the leadership of the SNP. She sat as an independent MSP, but Swinney called for her resignation, describing her actions as a "flout [of] the democratic will of the people of Glasgow".[34]Margo MacDonald, a fundamentalist within the SNP, voiced her lack of confidence in Swinney's leadership. MacDonald was placed fifth in the Lothians region for the 2003 Parliament election in the SNP's candidate selection, effectively ending her chances of being re-elected as an SNP MSP.[35] In protest, she ran instead as an independent candidate and was later expelled from the party.[36]
In 2003 a former parliamentary candidate and a party activist in the Shetland Islands Brian Nugent announced that he was forming his own pro-independence party, the Scottish Party, which eventually relaunched itself as the Free Scotland Party, in response to what he perceived to be an overly pro-EU stance by the SNP.[37][38]
Swinney led the SNP through a poor election result at the 2001 UK General election.[39] The party failed to take any of their target seats and saw the loss of one of their MPs, reducing their representation at Westminster from six to five. In the Perth constituency, the Scottish Conservatives were 50 votes behind the SNP.[40][41] Although the SNP's vote share remained the second-largest party, behind Labour, their vote share fell by 2%.[42] Swinney's predecessor, Salmond, stated "consolidating as the second party in Scotland is no mean achievement" and highlighted it put the SNP in a good position for the upcoming Scottish Parliament election in 2003.[43] Following the results of the election, Swinney admitted there were "lessons to learn" and ensured the SNP would be the "principal opposition party in Scottish politics".[44]
In the 2003 election, the SNP performed poorly in yet another election, with the party's vote share dropping by 4.9%.[45] They lost eight of their seats they had gained in the previous election under the leadership of Salmond. Despite a poor result, this was also mirrored by the Scottish Labour Party, who lost six MSPs and their vote share dropped by 4.2%.[46] The SNP remained the second-largest party at Holyrood. The decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for Scottish independence, however, the only parties which increased their representation in that election were the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party, both of which also support independence.[47][48]
Following the results of the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Bill Wilson, a party activist, became convinced that a change of direction was needed by the SNP leadership.[49] After discussing this with various SNP members, he was persuaded to contest the leadership himself and launched a challenge against Swinney.[50] Wilson ran a campaign attacking Swinney's proposals for party reform, which he claimed would centralise power and impoverish local branches. Wilson also challenged Swinney to a series of debates, although Swinney refused to take part.[51][52]
The election was yet another fight between the party's fundamentalists and gradualists, with Wilson attacking Swinney's proposal for a referendum on independence before pursuing negotiations with the British government. Wilson argued that as soon as the SNP can form a government it should pursue negotiations to end the union.[53]
The election was held at the party's 69th annual conference, and saw Swinney winning a massive victory over Wilson.[54] Moves in support of Wilson's proposition of pursuing independence negotiations without a referendum were thrown out at the party conference, and Swinney won significant policy battles over imposing a monthly levy on party MPs, MSPs, and MEPs. In a surprise result, the new central membership system was also approved.[55] The membership changes had been a key issue of attack from Wilson.[53] Soon afterwards, the party's National Executive Committee decided to suspend and then expel Campbell Martin. He had backed Wilson's leadership challenge and had continued to be overtly critical of Swinney's leadership, resulting in disciplinary action.[56] This was the last SNP election to use the delegate voting method. Future elections would be based on a one-person-one-vote postal vote system.[57]
Scottish independence
In September 2003 he urged SNP activists to ask the public, "Do you want independence, yes or no? And then tell the Brits to get off." A spokesman for Scottish Labour condemned the Swinney's use of language and said, "There is no place in Scotland for his brand of extreme nationalism."[58]
2004 European Parliament elections
Though retaining its two seats at the 2004 European elections, in a smaller field of 7 (Scotland up until then had 8 MEPs) the Scottish press and certain elements within the fundamentalist wing of the Party depicted the result as a disaster for the SNP putting further pressure on Swinney to resign.[59][60]
Resignation
After the results of the 2004 European Parliament election, senior figures within the SNP began privately briefing against Swinney. Gil Paterson, a former MSP for Central Scotland, was the first to call for Swinney's departure, with Michael Russell, a former potential campaign manager for Swinney calling for a change in approach from the SNP.[61] Members of the SNP shadow cabinet began privately discussing removing Swinney from the leadership, and Alex Salmond advised Swinney to resign in exchange for senior party figures not calling openly for his resignation.[62] On 22 June 2004, Swinney resigned as leader of the Scottish National Party, triggering a leadership contest.[63][64][65] He was succeeded by Alex Salmond after winning more than 75% of votes against Roseanna Cunningham and Michael Russell on a joint leadership ticket with Nicola Sturgeon.[66][67][68]
SNP in opposition (2004–2007)
From 2004 until the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Swinney sat on the SNP's opposition backbenches. He served as a convener on the Parliament's European and External Relations Committee from 2004 to 2005 and deputy convener on the Finance Committee from 2005 to 2007. Swinney was a substitute member of the Audit Committee from 2004 to 2007.[69] In September 2005, Swinney was made Shadow Minister for Finance.[70][71]
Salmond administration (2007–2014)
Finance Secretary: 2007–2016
Swinney's official portrait as Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Growth
As response to Swinney not notifying the Scottish Parliament that he had let the Scottish Variable Rate lapse due to not funding this tax mechanism, the Scottish Parliament voted to censure him and called his actions "an abuse of power".[76] Subsequently, a freedom of information request showed that even if Swinney had funded the mechanism, problems and delays in the HM Revenue & Customs computer system made any collection of the tax impossible. The Scottish Government added, "The power has not lapsed, the HMRC simply does not have an IT system capable of delivering a ten-month state of readiness."[77][78]
As Finance Secretary, Swinney was faced with the 2007–2008 financial crisis, which resulted in the Scottish economy entering recession.[79] The Scottish economy began to gradually slow in 2007 as a result of stock market concerns regarding the U.S. housing market. Scottish economic output fell for four consecutive quarters before a slight recovery in Q3 in 2009, before falling again by the end of 2009.[80] Swinney advocated that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, the Scottish Government and Swinney as finance secretary "acted swiftly to provide an immediate capital stimulus to Scotland's economy at the start of the 2008 financial crisis. As a consequence, Scotland's experience of recession has been shorter and shallower than the rest of the UK".[81]
Sturgeon and Swinney head the first meeting of the Scottish Cabinet, May 2016
Education Secretary: 2016–2021
In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP lost its overall majority, but remained the largest party with Sturgeon securing a second term as first minister.[90][91] She reappointed Swinney as deputy first minister, and for the first time in nine years, he was reshuffled from his roles as Finance Secretary to Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.[92][93]
Educational performance
After the 2017 General Election saw the SNP lose 21 seats, pollster Professor John Curtice told the BBC that the party's record on education had likely dented its popularity: "The SNP may want to reflect that their domestic record, not least on schools, is beginning to undermine their support among those who on the constitutional question are still willing to support the Nationalist position."[94]
In March 2020, after the results of Scottish students dropped in maths and science in the international PISA rankings for education, Swinney admitted, "There is progress to be made in maths and science."[95] Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "These two areas are so critical to the success of much of Scotland's modern economy. We should be doing so much better."[96]
2020 SQA exam controversy
In August 2020, Swinney was subject to a vote of no confidence in Parliament, with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all accusing Swinney of creating an exam results system which "unfairly penalised pupils at schools which had historically not performed so well".[97] During the No Confidence debate, Nicola Sturgeon described him as "one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics", while The Herald newspaper reported that: "Mr Swinney endured a deeply uncomfortable hour in the Holyrood chamber, as opposition MSPs said he had been a serial failure at the education portfolio, and he knew it."[98] The motion was defeated by 67 votes to 58 resulting in Swinney surviving the vote and remaining as Scottish Education Secretary.[99][100]
Vote of no confidence
In March 2021 Swinney was the subject of a second motion of no confidence.[101] As the minister in charge of liaising with the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Swinney twice refused to publish legal advice requested by the committee.[102][better source needed] After two votes in Parliament failed to persuade him to publish the advice, opposition parties announced a motion of no confidence in him.[102] Swinney u-turned and published the advice; the Scottish Greens declared they would not support the motion of no confidence and it was defeated by 65 votes to 57.[102]
Attainment gap
A report by Audit Scotland in March 2021 concluded that the results of Swinney's efforts to reduce the poverty related attainment gap in Scottish education were "limited and [fell] short of the Scottish Government’s aims. Improvement needs to happen more quickly and there needs to be greater consistency across the country." In 10 Scottish council areas the attainment gap between the richest and the poorest children increased.[103]
Covid Recovery Secretary: 2021–2023
Following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Scottish Labour urged Sturgeon to replace Swinney as Cabinet Secretary for Education, citing what it called "a litany of failures", in the "hope a new minister can stop the rot."[104] On 18 May, Sturgeon announced Swinney would continue as Deputy First Minister but would be reshuffled to the new cabinet role as Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery.[105] Swinney also served as Acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy from July 2022, whilst Kate Forbes was on maternity leave.
Following Sturgeon's resignation in February 2023, Swinney announced on 2 March 2023 that he was standing down from his position as Deputy First Minister. He stated that it had been an "honour to serve Scotland".[106] In March 2023, Swinney moved to the SNP's backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee.[107][108] He spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches.
Following Yousaf's resignation in April 2024 amid a government crisis, Swinney launched his leadership bid on 2 May, after Kate Forbes, who was a serious contender to become leader, dropped out and endorsed him.[109]
Graeme McCormick announced he would challenge Swinney for the leadership, saying he had the 100 nominations on 5 May.[110] Just hours later, he withdrew and endorsed Swinney, who became the presumptive nominee.[111]
On 6 May, with no other candidates put forward, Swinney was elected as party leader unopposed.[112] He said that he would work with Scottish unionists as leader.[113]
Swinney's early premiership was marked by the resolution of the Michael Matheson iPad scandal: the SNP MSP Michael Matheson had incurred a £11,000 bill after taking a Parliamentary iPad while on a family holiday, and had attempted to claim the bill back on expenses before admitting that the iPad had not been used for work purposes. Swinney refused to support the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee's proposed sanction on Matheson, describing Matheson as a "friend and colleague" who had "made mistakes", and casting doubt on the integrity of the committee's process: describing the process as "prejudiced", Swinney claimed that Conservative MSP Annie Wells should have removed herself from the committee due to previous comments about Matheson's conduct. Swinney's support for Matheson was described as "incredible and indefensible" by the Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross, and "unbelievable and embarrassing" by the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. Swinney directed the SNP to abstain on the parliamentary vote on the committee's recommendations, after introducing an amendment re-iterating Swinney's complaints about the investigation into Matheson. The Scottish Parliament subsequently voted in support of the committee's proposed sanction, banning Matheson from the Scottish Parliament for 27 days and withholding his salary 54 days, the heaviest sanction ever awarded to an MSP.[116][117]
Swinney claimed that he believed that Scottish independence could "be achieved in the next five years" as a result of Brexit consequences on Scotland and the Scottish economy, as well as the cost of living crisis. In an interview with Sky News, Swinney said "if we look at two of the biggest issues we face as a country in Scotland; the effect of the cost of living and the implications of Brexit. Both of those are major strategic factors that are doing severe economic and social damage to Scotland because of bad decisions taken in Westminster. And independence is the answer to that".[120]
Gender Reform Bill
Early into his premiership, Swinney faced questions from opposition parties regarding the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill which had been introduced by Shona Robison and was blocked by the UK Government using a Section 35 order under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998. Swinney claimed that "the Supreme Court has said that we can't legislate in that area and we can't take forward that legislation".[121]
In July 2024, Swinney and his party contested all 57 Scottish seats for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. The SNP went into the election as the largest party at Westminster from Scotland, having won 48 out of 59 seats at the 2019 United Kingdom general election.[122] Following the results of the 2024 United Kingdom general election in Scotland, the SNP became the second largest party in the UK Parliament representing Scottish seats, having won 9 seats, losing a total of 39 seats across Scotland.[123] Across the United Kingdom, the results saw a Labour Party landslide victory, and similarly in Scotland, Scottish Labour became the largest party representing Scottish constituencies at Westminster.[124]
In September 2022, amid the death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, Swinney stated that the monarch should remain head of state of an independent Scotland.[127] In May 2024, during an interview with Sky News, Swinney claimed that he believed that Scotland could become independent "in the next five years" as a consequence of Brexit and the cost of living crisis.[128] In May 2024, Swinney described himself as following a "moderatecentre-left agenda".[129]
Personal life
Swinney with his wife, Elizabeth Quigley, and their son, Matthew, in 2024.
Swinney was married to Lorna King from 1991 to 1998. They had two children: Judith and Stuart. The couple divorced in 1998 after the Daily Record revealed King had an affair with a married nursery teacher.[130] The marriage was subsequently annulled by the Roman Rota in order that Swinney be allowed to marry in the Catholic Church, to which his second wife belongs.[131]
Swinney is a member of the Church of Scotland and has described himself as "a man of deep Christian faith".[137] However, he has clashed with his party colleague Kate Forbes due to her religious views (Forbes is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, a smaller and more conservative religious group).[138]
^Previously titled Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth from 2007 to 2011; Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth from 2011 to 2014; and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy from 2014 to 2016
^Swinney was acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy during the maternity leave of Kate Forbes from 2022 to 2023.
^StreetBlairgowrie, 17–19 Leslie; Ph10 6ah (5 September 2018). "John Swinney". Scottish National Party. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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