John Swinney Re-elected as Scotland's First Minister

John Swinney won the nomination to be re-appointed first minister of Scotland in a vote of the Scottish Parliament. The SNP leader secured the role after three rounds of voting. Leaders from the five other parties in Holyrood also stood for the position, but the SNP's election victory made Swinney's nomination a virtual certainty.

His appointment will be rubber-stamped by the King before a signing-in ceremony at the Court of Session on Wednesday.

Swinney told MSPs he would provide reliable, trusted leadership in turbulent times. He said he would work with the whole chamber to ease cost of living pressures, improve the NHS, grow the economy and protect the environment. The first minister said that with a record pro-independence majority in parliament between SNP and Green MSPs, the public had made it known loud and clear that it wanted independence.

He insisted that his government was ready to deliver ambitious, practical plans to move towards independence. The SNP won a clear victory at the Holyrood election, but did not secure an outright majority. This means Swinney's government will need help from other parties to pass laws.

Following the election of SNP veteran Kenneth Gibson as presiding officer, the SNP cohort has been cut to 57 MSPs, eight short of a majority.

Opposition leaders all called for action to bring down the cost of living and improve the NHS. There were also repeated warnings about the public becoming disillusioned with politics. Reform UK's Malcolm Offord claimed the SNP had created a broken system of high taxation and welfare dependency, arguing that only his party could deliver prosperity for every Scot.

Labour leader Anas Sarwar said the parliament had a responsibility to take on the politics of fear and blame and win over a scunnered public. Green co-leader Gillian Mackay noted that Scots had elected the largest-ever pro-independence majority, insisting the country should have the chance to vote to choose its constitutional future.

Conservative chief Russell Findlay used his speech to urge Swinney not to put constitutional paralysis above good governance.

Swinney's re-appointment caps a remarkable turnaround for the SNP stalwart. The Holyrood veteran appeared to have retired from frontbench politics in 2023, when he stepped down from cabinet following Nicola Sturgeon's resignation as first minister. That all changed when Humza Yousaf's premiership imploded in April 2024.

Swinney, citing a profound sense of duty, decided he still had something to offer his party and country. He was unable to prevent an SNP collapse at the 2024 general election. But having seen his party returned to government at Holyrood, Swinney has secured a fifth successive term of SNP government.