Scotland’s pro-independence SNP names John Swinney as leader, set to become first minister
- Swinney was confirmed the Scottish National Party’s new leader on Monday and is set to succeed Humza Yousaf as the country’s first minister
- Swinney said his decision to stand for the leadership was born out of a ‘profound sense of duty to my party and to my country’
Scottish National Party (SNP) veteran John Swinney was elected as its new leader on Monday and is set to replace Humza Yousaf as Scotland’s first minister after he emerged as the sole contender in the contest to pick a new premier.
Swinney’s main challenge will be to halt the slide in the SNP’s popularity after a string of scandals and political missteps, while keeping alive its ultimate goal of winning independence from the United Kingdom.
“My decision to stand for the leadership is not born out of long-held ambition, but rather a profound sense of duty to my party and to my country,” Swinney, who joined the party as a teenager in 1979, told a cheering audience in Glasgow.
“I know there’s some controversy that I’m the only candidate to stand for the leadership … For me, the fact that I am the only candidate demonstrates that the Scottish National Party is coming back together again now.”
Yousaf, who had become the first Muslim to lead a democratic western European nation when he was sworn in as first minister in 2023, resigned last week after his decision to end a coalition in the Scottish parliament with the Green Party backfired, triggering a race to determine his successor.
Just after midday on Monday, the deadline for other contenders to join the contest, the SNP confirmed Swinney as its next leader, ending uncertainty around a possible weeks-long process that would have ensued if there were more candidates.