John Swinney: the SNP's ultimate 'safe pair of hands'

The favourite to become the next leader of the SNP and first minister of Scotland may be crowned "with no contest", the Scottish Conservatives have warned.

John Swinney is widely tipped to take over from Humza Yousaf, whose resignation leaves a "leadership void needing to be filled in a time of crisis for the SNP", said The Courier. Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Tories, predicted that Swinney will quickly be voted in without a leadership election.

Swinney led the party from 2000-04, in the wake of Alex Salmond's sudden resignation, and served as Nicola Sturgeon's deputy from 2014–23. With such experience, he is considered the ultimate "safe pair of hands" within the party, said The Guardian, and is "known for his quiet charm as well as his steeliness".

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Electorally 'ineffectual'

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Swinney joined the SNP in 1979, when he was 15 years old. He was elected to Westminster for North Tayside in Labour's landslide election of 1997, before entering Holyrood two years later, following the establishment of Scotland's devolved parliament.

Now 60, he led the SNP after succeeding Salmond in 2000. His tenure was short-lived and ultimately ended in failure, however, as the party failed to make progress in the 2001 general election and lost MSPs at the 2003 Holyrood election.

His time in office is "considered to be ineffectual because of poor election performances", said the Scottish Daily Express, and he stood down as leader in 2004 after disappointing results in European Parliament polls.

Swinney went on to serve as finance secretary from 2007 to 2016, initially under the returning Salmond, and then as education secretary from 2016 to 2021. He was also appointed deputy first minister by Salmond's successor, Sturgeon, in 2014, remaining in post until her political demise in 2023. 

An active member of the Church of Scotland, he won respect for his protracted negotiations with Westminster after the Smith commission, which gave further powers to Holyrood after the 2014 independence referendum. 

Swinney stepped back from frontline politics last year to spend more time with his children and wife, the TV reporter Elizabeth Quigley. He has remained loyal to Sturgeon, even as she has been engulfed in a crisis around financial mismanagement that has eroded the party's support.

A 'serious person for serious times'

Swinney has yet to confirm whether he is running for the top job again, but senior SNP figures have already given him their backing. The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told Sky News that "serious times demand serious politics and serious people", and said Swinney was "the best person to take that forward now" for the party.

Swinney is "a vastly experienced politician", said The Guardian, and "understands the mechanics of government and the dynamic between Holyrood and the UK government better than anyone else in the Scottish parliament". He also understands the "internal dynamics and historic loyalties of SNP politicians and membership" and "would probably be the most favoured by the party's mainstream members because of his long experience and track record as a bipartisan, shrewd and centrist figure".

The current deputy leader, Keith Brown, denied claims made by opposition parties and even some within the SNP that the contest would be a "stitch-up" by "the boys club" at the top of the party.

Swinney "will bring unity hopefully to the parliament but also to the party", Brown said.