SNP leadership race: John Swinney new party leader and is now set to become Scottish first minister
John Swinney has won the SNP leadership contest and is set to be named as Scotland’s new first minister, replacing Humza Yousaf.
Mr Swinney could become Scotland’s seventh first minister as early as Tuesday.
The SNP leadership nominations closed at 12pm on Monday, with the party confirming Mr Swinney was the sole nominee.
He is expected to give a speech later in the day.
Posting on X, he said: “I am deeply honoured to have been elected as leader of the SNP. I will give all that I have to serve my party and my country.”
The former deputy first minister, who served under close ally Nicola Sturgeon, emerged as a frontrunner following Mr Yousaf’s resignation last week.
Former finance secretary Kate Forbes had been tipped to join him, but later announced she would not stand and instead threw her support behind Mr Swinney.
Mr Swinney has said he would want Ms Forbes to “play a significant part” in his government if elected as first minister.
John Swinney. Pic: PA
Potential challenger Graeme McCormick also withdrew his bid at the 11th hour.
The veteran SNP activist claimed he had secured the 100 nominations from 20 branches needed to enter the contest but backed out of the campaign on Sunday evening after a “lengthy and fruitful conversation” with Mr Swinney.
The SNP has appeared keen to avoid an explosive leadership contest similar to the one that followed Ms Sturgeon’s resignation.
Last year’s race, involving Mr Yousaf, Ms Forbes and now Alba Party MSP Ash Regan, featured rows over religious beliefs, arguments about the recollection of past events, and widespread criticism of secrecy surrounding the vote.
It also led to the resignation of Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell as SNP chief executive.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross congratulated Mr Swinney on becoming SNP leader for a second time, but urged him to abandon his “relentless push for independence”.
Mr Ross added: “It’s difficult to see how he can be the fresh start Scotland needs when he’s the ultimate continuity candidate.”
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Patrick Harvie, Scottish Greens co-leader, said Scotland “needs a period of stable government”.
He added: “Mr Swinney knows that if he is to have our support then it must be on the basis of progressive policies that help us to tackle the climate crisis and build a fairer and more equal future.”
Mr Harvie said his party remains “utterly committed” to the policies delivered as a result of the Bute House Agreement and will “oppose any move away from them or steps to dilute them”.
He added: “We are committed to delivering on our vision of a fairer, greener and more equal Scotland, and are open to talks with John Swinney and his team about how we can work together to make that happen.”
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John Swinney speaking to Sky News
Read more:
Who is John Swinney?
What happens next?
Mr Swinney is now clear to take over as SNP leader, but will need to seek parliamentary approval to succeed Mr Yousaf as first minister.
The timing is decided by the parliamentary bureau, and could take place as early as Tuesday.
The parliament will have 28 days to nominate a replacement for Mr Yousaf once his resignation has been accepted by the King.
As the SNP is comfortably the largest party in Holyrood, the onus is on them to find a new leader who can work with other parties in a minority government.
The SNP’s tally of 63 MSPs leaves them just short of a majority in the 129-member parliament, meaning politicians from other parties would need to be persuaded to either vote for Mr Swinney, or at least abstain in the ballot, for the party to be successful.
The leaders from other political parties can also put themselves forward and MSPs can nominate a candidate, although it must be seconded by another member.
If that happens, any candidate that secures more than half of all votes will win the nomination.
If no one reaches that threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated – with the process repeated until the candidates are whittled down to two.
At that point, a candidate will only require a simple majority to win.
Whoever wins the vote is then formally appointed by the King.
An official swearing-in ceremony at the Court of Session in Edinburgh would then take place.
However, if no new first minister can be selected within the 28 days, the Scottish parliament would be forced to hold an extraordinary general election.
NHS England has warned the health service is facing a “worst case scenario” December with a surge of “super flu”.
The warning comes as new figures revealed the number of people in hospital with flu have increased by more than half in just one week.
Catch up as it happened: NHS warns of ‘worst-case scenario’ as ‘super flu’ surges
Latest figures show:
• An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital per day with flu last week
• This is the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on last week
• At this point last year the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402
Health service bosses are warning the number of flu patients in hospital has already increased sharply since the week covered by this data – with no peak in sight.
Read more: Why is flu season worse this year?
Virus outbreaks coincide with doctors’ strikes
Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022/23, the highest level since the pandemic.
Alongside rocketing flu, the number of norovirus patients in hospital has also risen by 35%.
The NHS is now warning winter viruses are starting to “engulf hospitals”.
Demand for A&Es and ambulance services is also soaring.
New monthly figures show A&E attendances were a record for November at 2.35 million – more than 30,000 higher than November 2024.
In addition, there were 48,814 more ambulance incidents (802,525) compared with last year (753,711).
Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.
The record-breaking demand on the NHS coincides with a resident doctors’ strike from 17 to 22 December over pay and jobs – sparking fears of major disruption for patients in the run up to Christmas.
People are being advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.
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Will doctors accept late deal to avoid strikes?
Flu vaccinations on the up… who can get one?
The NHS is urging anyone eligible to get their flu vaccination to help prevent them getting seriously ill.
Latest figures show more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year, more than 381,000 higher than last year.
You can get it if you:
• Are 65 or over in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Are pregnant
• Live in a care home
• Are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive carer’s allowance
• Live with someone who has a weakened immune system
• Are a frontline health and social care worker
• Are of school age
• Have certain medical conditions (the NHS has a full list)
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, warned of a “tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals”.
“We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible,” he said.
Warning ‘extremely challenging few weeks ahead’
Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the health service faces “an extremely challenging few weeks ahead” with “staff being pushed to the limit”.
She said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors’ strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.
“The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”
She added: “We have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.
“For non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”
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Mr Streeting has offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a last-minute deal in the hope doctors will call off the walkout, which starts next Wednesday.
The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming day, and is expected to announced a decision on Monday, just two days before the planned strike.
The offer includes a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but does not include extra pay.
The spread of subclade K, the super flu, is picking up – and it’s not looking good for the NHS.
An average of just under 2,700 hospital beds a day in England were occupied by patients with flu last week.
There are fears that could jump to somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 by the end of this week.
That’s on top of COVID and RSV.
And with the possibility of a five-day strike by resident (junior) doctors next week, it’s a perfect storm for hospitals.
An NHS hospital ward at Ealing Hospital in London. Pic: PA
Christmas flu
Children are the super-spreaders of flu. It races around classrooms and some schools have temporarily shut because of the impact.
The Christmas holidays aren’t far off. They are likely to put the brakes on children passing around the virus.
But it’s also a time of year when families mix with elderly relatives, who are more likely to be hit hard by the infection – perhaps even needing hospital care.
So while the holidays may temporarily slow the overall rise in infections, the impact on hospitals could get much worse.
File pic: PA
Subclade K
Flu is spreading so rapidly at the moment because immunity to subclade K from previous infections and vaccinations is low.
The virus – a variant of the H3N2 flu strain – suddenly acquired seven new mutations in late summer.
Every 100 people infected with seasonal flu would typically pass the virus on to 120 others.
With subclade K, it’s 140.
And that’s why cases are rising so quickly on the charts.
At the moment, 18 in every 100,000 patients in England are consulting their GP with flu-like symptoms. That’s still well short of the peak of around 50 in every 100,000 in 2017/18, the worst flu outbreak in recent years.
File pic: PA
The grim reality of flu
Flu is a really unpleasant disease, nothing like a cold. I’ve had it twice in my life and it physically hurt to get out of bed. It’s grim.
Most people get over it with a few days’ rest and paracetamol to take the edge off the fever.
But vulnerable people can become seriously ill. In the outbreak of 2017/18, around 22,000 died.
Read more:
Nurses ‘deeply concerned about what lies ahead’
NHS braced for ‘toughest winter’ after record-breaking month
That’s why the NHS is urging people in certain groups – the over 65s, those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, carers and children – to get the jab.
The vaccine isn’t a great match for subclade K, but still reduces the chance of hospital admission by 30-40% in adults.
It’s impossible to say when the spread will peak, but the latest figures suggest the outbreak is far from over.
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