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.
A former Labour frontbencher has urged the government to condemn Donald Trump’s “barbaric” plan for a US takeover of Gaza as “ethnic cleansing”, in a move that risks reigniting internal party splits over the Middle East conflict.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, a former shadow mental health minister who ran to be deputy leader, said the government needed to express “in no uncertain terms” its disapproval of the suggestion that Gazans be resettled into neighbouring countries.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, seen by Sky News, the Labour MP for Tooting said the US president’s comments risked sounding the “final death knell” for the internationally-supported two-state solution, in which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside the state of Israel.
“I would like to express my outrage and ask that you take urgent steps to prevent this, including voicing the government’s disapproval in no uncertain terms,” she wrote.
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“This is not a humanitarian gesture of compassion – it is the forced removal of a population and a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza,” she added.
Dr Allin-Khan, who was one of the 56 Labour MPs to break ranks and vote for a controversial SNP ceasefire motion last year, cited definitions of ethnic cleansing by the United Nations and the European Union as “using force or intimidation to remove from a given area, persons of another ethnic or religious group”.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan was one of 56 Labour MPs who voted for a ceasefire in Gaza
“The world intervened in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and roundly condemned ethnic cleansing in Rwanda,” she added. “We must meet these plans to remove millions of Palestinians from their homes, naked as they are, with the same robust response.”
She asked: “Will the government stand firm and condemn President Trump’s stated aim to take over and forcibly remove the Palestinian population of Gaza?
“Further to this, can you confirm that there will be no UK support or involvement in this disgraceful plan? Finally, will you work with the international community to support UN resolutions opposing the ethnic cleansing of Gaza?”
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Two states is ‘only’ solution
Mr Trump sparked international alarm overnight when he laid out his plans for the Middle East in a news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
The US president called Gaza a “demolition site” and said the two million people who currently live there could go to “various domains”.
He did not rule out sending US troops to the region, and said the US would “develop” Gaza and create “thousands and thousands of jobs”.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs,” Mr Trump said, adding that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live.
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Trump: ‘We’ll own Gaza’
Mr Trump suggested that Palestinians could be relocated to Egypt and Jordan. Both countries, other Arab nations and Palestinian leaders have all opposed this move.
The US president’s comments come at an awkward time for Sir Keir Starmer, as he seeks to build a close relationship with the US and stop the UK being subject to the punitive tariffs that have been imposed on China, Mexico and Canada – although the latter two countries have since earned a 30-day reprieve as negotiations take place.
The UK government has sought to distance itself from Mr Trump’s remarks, with Mr Lammy saying the UK has “always been clear in our belief that we must see two states”.
“We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank,” he added.
And speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley this morning, Environment Secretary Steve Reed said the UK’s position was that Palestinians “need to be able to return to their homes and then start to rebuild them”.
Read more:
Gaza plan so outrageous, it might be part of something bigger
Managing relations with the US, EU and China may not be easy
However, he stopped short of criticising Mr Trump for his remarks, saying that he would “not provide a running commentary on the pronouncements of the president”.
Asked if he was being disparaging, Mr Reed replied “not at all” and argued that Mr Trump should be given “credit for the role he played in securing the ceasefire in the first place”.
The ceasefire between Israel and Gaza was agreed last month after more than a year of war following Hamas’s terrorist attack on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 250 others taken hostage.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’s attack, according to local authorities.
UN officials have estimated that around 200,000 Palestinians have made the journey to the north of the Gaza Strip after Israel lifted its closure of the area following the ceasefire deal.
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