John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland since 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2024, and previously between 2000 and 2004. He has served as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North, previously North Tayside, since 1999, and was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tayside from 1997 to 2001.
Born in Edinburgh, Swinney graduated with a MA in politics at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the SNP at 15 years of age, and quickly rose to prominence by serving as the National Secretary from 1986 to 1992 and as Deputy Leader from 1998 to 2000. He served in the House of Commons as MP for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001. He was elected to the inaugural Scottish Parliament at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. After Salmond resigned the party leadership in 2000, Swinney was elected at the 2000 leadership election. He became leader of the largest opposition party in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP lost one MP at the 2001 general election and eight MSPs at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, despite the Officegate scandal unseating the previous Scottish Labour first minister, Henry McLeish. However, the only parties to gain seats in that election were the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) which, like the SNP, have supported independence. After an unsuccessful challenge to his leadership in 2003, and the party's unfavourable results at the 2004 European Parliament election, Swinney resigned. Salmond returned to the role at the subsequent 2004 leadership election.
From 2004 to 2007, Swinney was a backbencher. At the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP won the highest number of seats, and Salmond was subsequently appointed first minister. Swinney served under Salmond as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth from 2007 to 2014. After Sturgeon succeeded Salmond, she appointed Swinney as Deputy First Minister in 2014. He also served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy, until that role was divided into two posts in the second Sturgeon government as a result of the expansion of the Scottish Parliament's financial powers; he was then appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in 2016, and then as Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in 2021. On 25 May 2022, Swinney became the longest serving Deputy First Minister, surpassing the previous record which was held by Sturgeon. Swinney served as Acting Finance and Economy Secretary in addition to his position of Covid Recovery Secretary from July 2022 to March 2023. In March 2023, he resigned from his senior positions in response to Sturgeon's resignation as first minister.
Swinney spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee. Following Yousaf's resignation in April 2024, Swinney ran to succeed him at the 2024 SNP leadership election and was elected unopposed. His early premiership saw the SNP lose 39 seats at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, reducing the SNP to the second-largest party in Scotland and the fourth-largest party in the Westminster Parliament. At the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP under Swinney's leadership lost votes and seats but remained the largest party in the Scottish Parliament.
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Early life
John Ramsay Swinney was born on 13 April 1964 in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, the son of Kenneth Swinney, a garage manager, and Agnes Weir Swinney (née Hunter), a Sunday school teacher. He grew up in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh. His uncle Tom Hunter was awarded the Victoria Cross whilst serving with the Royal Marines during the Second World War. His maternal grandparents, Ramsey and Mary Hunter, were from England, having moved to Edinburgh in the 1920s.
Swinney was educated at Forrester High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh, where he received an undergraduate Master of Arts Honours degree in politics in 1986. He was a research officer for the Scottish Coal Project from 1987 to 1988, a senior management consultant with Development Options from 1988 to 1992, and a strategic planning principal with Scottish Amicable Life Assurance from 1992 to 1997.
Early political career
Early involvement
Swinney joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1979 at the age of 15, citing his anger at the way in which Scotland had been portrayed by television commentators at the Commonwealth Games. He became a prominent figure in the party's youth wing, the Young Scottish Nationalists (YSN), now known as the Young Scots for Independence (YSI). He served as the SNP's Assistant National Secretary, before becoming the National Secretary in 1986, at the age of 22.
House of Commons
At the 1997 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tayside constituency, and in 1999 he was elected to represent the same area at the Scottish Parliament. He stood down as a Westminster MP at the 2001 general election in order to avoid splitting his time, in line with all of his colleagues who found themselves in a similar dual mandate position.
Election to Holyrood
In 1999 Swinney was elected to the 1st Scottish Parliament, representing the North Tayside constituency. In Salmond's opposition cabinet, he served as the Spokesman on Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. He also served on the Parliament's Finance Committee and was the Convener of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee.
Leader of the SNP in opposition (2000–2004)
2000 Leadership bid
In 2000 Alex Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP, which triggered a leadership contest. Swinney ran in the election against Alex Neil. The leadership contest was dominated by internal fights in the party between Gradualists, who advocated Scottish devolution as step towards independence, and Fundamentalists, who were suspicious of devolution and supported a more radical approach. Swinney represented the gradualist wing and Neil represented the fundamentalists wing. Whilst both candidates supported the position of the SNP on the centre-left, Neil was seen as the more left-wing of the two, and individuals associated with the Neil campaign argued that a Swinney leadership would drag the SNP to the right.
Swinney won an overwhelming majority of votes by party delegates, securing 67.1% of votes. He was appointed leader at the party's conference on 16 September 2000. Roseanna Cunningham, who endorsed Swinney in the leadership race, was elected Depute Leader.
Tenure
Swinney's leadership quickly came under challenge. His subdued style of debating technique was often contrasted with that of his more charismatic predecessor. In 2002 Dorothy-Grace Elder, the SNP MSP for the Glasgow region, resigned her party membership after coming dissatisfied with the leadership of the SNP. She sat as an independent MSP, but Swinney called for her resignation, describing her actions as a "flout [of] the democratic will of the people of Glasgow". Margo MacDonald, a fundamentalist within the SNP, voiced her lack of confidence in Swinney's leadership. MacDonald was placed fifth in the Lothians region for the 2003 Parliament election in the SNP's candidate selection, effectively ending her chances of being re-elected as an SNP MSP. In protest, she ran instead as an independent candidate and was later expelled from the party.
In 2003 a former parliamentary candidate and a party activist in the Shetland Islands Brian Nugent formed his own pro-independence party, the Scottish Party, which eventually relaunched itself as the Free Scotland Party, in response to what he perceived to be an overly pro-EU stance by the SNP.
Swinney led the SNP through a poor election result at the 2001 UK General election. The party failed to take any of their target seats and saw the loss of one of their MPs, reducing their representation at Westminster from six to five. In the Perth constituency, the Scottish Conservatives were 50 votes behind the SNP. Although the SNP's vote share remained the second-largest party, behind Labour, their vote share fell by 2%. Swinney's predecessor, Salmond, stated "consolidating as the second party in Scotland is no mean achievement" and highlighted it put the SNP in a good position for the upcoming Scottish Parliament election in 2003. Following the results of the election, Swinney admitted there were "lessons to learn" and ensured the SNP would be the "principal opposition party in Scottish politics".
In the 2003 election, the SNP performed poorly in yet another election, with the party's vote share dropping by 4.9%. They lost eight of their seats they had gained in the previous election under the leadership of Salmond. Despite a poor result, this was also mirrored by the Scottish Labour Party, who lost six MSPs and their vote share dropped by 4.2%. The SNP remained the second-largest party at Holyrood. The decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for Scottish independence, however, the only parties which increased their representation in that election were the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Scottish Green Party, both of which also support independence.
Resignation
Following the results of the 2004 European Parliament election, senior figures within the SNP began privately briefing against Swinney. Gil Paterson, a former MSP for Central Scotland, was the first to call for Swinney's departure, with Michael Russell, a former potential campaign manager for Swinney calling for a change in approach from the SNP. Members of the SNP shadow cabinet began privately discussing removing Swinney from the leadership, and Alex Salmond advised Swinney to resign in exchange for senior party figures not calling openly for his resignation. On 22 June 2004, Swinney resigned as leader of the Scottish National Party, triggering a leadership contest. He was succeeded by Alex Salmond after winning more than 75% of votes against Roseanna Cunningham and Michael Russell on a joint leadership ticket with Nicola Sturgeon.
Backbench MSP (2004–2007)
From 2004 until the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Swinney sat on the SNP's opposition backbenches. He served as a convener on the Parliament's European and External Relations Committee from 2004 to 2005 and deputy convener on the Finance Committee from 2005 to 2007. Swinney was a substitute member of the Audit Committee from 2004 to 2007. In September 2005, Swinney was made Shadow Minister for Finance.
Salmond government (2007–2014)
Finance Secretary: 2007–2016
In the 2007 election to the 3rd Scottish Parliament, the SNP emerged as the largest party, with one seat more than the governing Scottish Labour. Initially the SNP proposed coalition talks with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, however, they declined and instead Swinney led coalition talks with the Scottish Greens. After an agreement, Salmond was appointed first minister of Scotland and he appointed Swinney as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in his first minority government.
As response to Swinney not notifying the Scottish Parliament that he had let the Scottish Variable Rate lapse due to not funding this tax mechanism, the Scottish Parliament voted to censure him and called his actions "an abuse of power". Subsequently, a freedom of information request showed that even if Swinney had funded the mechanism, problems and delays in the HM Revenue & Customs computer system made any collection of the tax impossible. The Scottish Government added, "The power has not lapsed, the HMRC simply does not have an IT system capable of delivering a ten-month state of readiness."
As Finance Secretary, Swinney was faced with the 2008 financial crisis, which resulted in the Scottish economy entering recession. The Scottish economy began to gradually slow in 2007 as a result of stock market concerns regarding the U.S. housing market. Scottish economic output fell for four consecutive quarters before a slight recovery in Q3 in 2009, before falling again by the end of 2009. Swinney advocated that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, the Scottish Government and Swinney as finance secretary "acted swiftly to provide an immediate capital stimulus to Scotland's economy at the start of the 2008 financial crisis. As a consequence, Scotland's experience of recession has been shorter and shallower than the rest of the UK".
As Finance Secretary, Swinney was responsible for preparing a cabinet briefing paper on the financial impact of Scottish independence and its potential impact on public spending. Produced in 2012 during the campaign for the independence referendum to be held in 2014, the report warned that an independent Scotland would face public spending cuts, lower pensions and welfare spending, and high levels of debt. The paper indicated that an independent Scotland would face a significant budget deficit of £28 billion, and would inherit a higher proportion of the UK national debt than ministers had publicly acknowledged, with debt interest payments potentially costing taxpayers in Scotland £5.2 billion in 2016-17. The report warned that Scotland's public finances would be heavily dependent on volatile and declining oil revenues, and suggested that the affordability of the state pension in an independent Scotland would be at risk. The report further warned that the SNP's plans for an oil fund under independence would "require some downward revision in current spending."
Deputy First Minister of Scotland (2014–2023)
Following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the 2014 referendum, Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP and Swinney was seen as a likely candidate in the leadership race, however, he "unreservedly" ruled himself out for a second bid as leader and endorsed Nicola Sturgeon. Sturgeon was elected unopposed as leader and was subsequently appointed First Minister of Scotland. On 21 November 2014, Sturgeon appointed Swinney as Deputy First Minister. He remained as Finance Secretary in Sturgeon's new cabinet.
Education Secretary: 2016–2021
In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP lost its overall majority, but remained the largest party with Sturgeon securing a second term as first minister. She reappointed Swinney as deputy first minister, and for the first time in nine years, he was reshuffled from his roles as Finance Secretary to Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.
After the 2017 United Kingdom general election saw the SNP lose 21 seats, pollster Professor John Curtice told the BBC that the party's record on education had likely dented its popularity: "The SNP may want to reflect that their domestic record, not least on schools, is beginning to undermine their support among those who on the constitutional question are still willing to support the Nationalist position."
In March 2020, after the results of Scottish students dropped in maths and science in the international PISA rankings for education, Swinney admitted, "There is progress to be made in maths and science." Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "These two areas are so critical to the success of much of Scotland's modern economy. We should be doing so much better."
In August 2020, Swinney was subject to a vote of no confidence in Parliament, with the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats all accusing Swinney of creating an exam results system which "unfairly penalised pupils at schools which had historically not performed so well". During the No Confidence debate, Nicola Sturgeon described him as "one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics", while The Herald newspaper reported that: "Mr Swinney endured a deeply uncomfortable hour in the Holyrood chamber, as opposition MSPs said he had been a serial failure at the education portfolio, and he knew it." The motion was defeated by 67 votes to 58 resulting in Swinney surviving the vote and remaining as Scottish Education Secretary.
In March 2021 Swinney was the subject of a second motion of no confidence. As the minister in charge of liaising with the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Swinney was criticised for failing to provide the committee with all of the legal documentation which they requested. After two votes in Parliament failed to persuade him to publish the advice, opposition parties moved a motion of no confidence in him. After, Swinney shared some of these documents with the committee, the Scottish Greens declared they would not support the motion of no confidence and it was defeated by 65 votes to 57.
Covid Recovery Secretary: 2021–2023
Following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Scottish Labour urged Sturgeon to replace Swinney as Cabinet Secretary for Education, citing what it called "a litany of failures", in the "hope a new minister can stop the rot." On 18 May, Sturgeon retained Swinney as Deputy First Minister but reshuffled him to the new cabinet role as Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery. Swinney also served as Acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy from July 2022, whilst Kate Forbes was on maternity leave.
Following Sturgeon's resignation in February 2023, Swinney stood down from his position as Deputy First Minister on 2 March 2023. He stated that it had been an "honour to serve Scotland". In March 2023, Swinney moved to the SNP's backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee. He spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches.
First Minister of Scotland (2024–present)
2024 leadership bid
Following Yousaf's resignation in April 2024 amid a government crisis, Swinney launched his leadership bid on 2 May, after Kate Forbes, who was a serious contender to become leader, dropped out and endorsed him. On 30 April, Forbes and Swinney held meetings to discuss the leadership. Swinney promised Forbes a significant role in his government if elected, and Forbes soon after stood down. Following Swinney's election, Forbes was appointed Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic.
Graeme McCormick challenged Swinney for the leadership, saying he had the 100 nominations on 5 May. Just hours later, he withdrew and endorsed Swinney, who became the presumptive nominee.
On 6 May, with no other candidates put forward, Swinney was elected as party leader unopposed. He said that he would work with Scottish unionists as leader.
First term (2024–2026)
Swinney was officially sworn into office as first minister of Scotland on 8 May 2024 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh after receiving the Royal Warrant of Appointment by King Charles III.
Swinney's early premiership was marked by the resolution of the Michael Matheson iPad scandal: the SNP MSP Michael Matheson had incurred a £11,000 bill after taking a Parliamentary iPad while on a family holiday, and had attempted to claim the bill back on expenses before admitting that the iPad had not been used for work purposes. Swinney refused to support the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee's proposed sanction on Matheson, describing Matheson as a "friend and colleague" who had "made mistakes", and casting doubt on the integrity of the committee's process: describing the process as "prejudiced", Swinney claimed that Conservative MSP Annie Wells should have removed herself from the committee due to previous comments about Matheson's conduct. Swinney's support for Matheson was described as "incredible and indefensible" by the Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross, and "unbelievable and embarrassing" by the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. Swinney directed the SNP to abstain on the parliamentary vote on the committee's recommendations, after introducing an amendment re-iterating Swinney's complaints about the investigation into Matheson. The Scottish Parliament subsequently voted in support of the committee's proposed sanction, banning Matheson from the Scottish Parliament for 27 days and withholding his salary 54 days, the heaviest sanction ever awarded to an MSP.
The majority of Swinney's cabinet were previously part of Yousaf's previous governments. The only addition to the cabinet was Kate Forbes replacing Shona Robison as Deputy First Minister of Scotland, and taking part of Màiri McAllan's responsibility for economy into her portfolio as Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic. Robison was, however, re-appointed by Swinney as Finance Secretary with additional responsibility for local government, with McAllan appointed as the reduced portfolio of Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy.
On 27 March 2025, Christina McKelvie, the Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy died whilst serving in office, ultimately triggering a reshuffle on Swinney's government in June 2025. Màiri McAllan was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Gillian Martin as Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy and Tom Arthur and Maree Todd appointed as Minister for Social Care and Mental Wellbeing and Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy and Sport respectively.
Second term (2026–present)
Following the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, a number of members of Swinney's cabinet either stepped down, were not re–elected or were not seeking re–election, causing Swinney to make significant changes. Swinney's second cabinet was significantly slimmed down from previous cabinets, with Jenny Gilruth replacing Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister.
In July 2026, Andy Burnham became the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and met Swinney three days later in Glasgow ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where both leaders discussed domestic and government policy, as well as a second referendum on Scottish independence. Following the meeting, Swinney confirmed that Burnham had pledged a "commitment not to bypass Holyrood with his plans for further devolution of power", whilst 10 Downing Street later confirmed that the Prime Minister made clear that a second referendum on independence was "off limits". Burnham claimed that a second referendum on the matter of Scottish independence would "distract from growing the economy".
Political positions
In September 2022, amid the death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, Swinney stated that the monarch should remain head of state of an independent Scotland. In May 2024, during an interview with Sky News, Swinney claimed that he believed that Scotland could become independent "in the next five years" as a consequence of Brexit and the cost of living crisis. In May 2024, Swinney described himself as following a "moderate centre-left agenda".
In April 2025, Swinney called for the band Kneecap to be banned from Scotland's TRNSMT music festival.
Personal life
Swinney married Lorna King on 30 November 1991 in Bishopbriggs and the marriage was legally dissolved in 2000. They had two children: Judith, born in 1994, and Stuart, born in 1996. The couple divorced after the Daily Record revealed King had an affair with a married nursery teacher. The marriage was subsequently annulled by the Roman Rota in order that Swinney be allowed to marry in the Catholic Church, to which his second wife belongs.
Swinney married Elizabeth Quigley, a BBC News Scotland reporter, on 26 July 2003 at St Peter's Church, Edinburgh. Quigley was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000. In 2010, she gave birth to Swinney's third child, Matthew. They live in Woodside, Perth and Kinross. Between 2003 and 2011, Swinney owned a second home on Hermitage Terrace in Morningside, Edinburgh. At the time of its purchase for £355,000, it was reported as the most expensive second home bought by an MSP using parliamentary allowances. Swinney sold the property in 2011 for £430,000 following changes to the expenses system in the wake of the Westminster expenses scandal, making a reported profit of around £75,000.
Swinney is a member of the Church of Scotland and has described himself as "a man of deep Christian faith". However, he has clashed with his party colleague Kate Forbes due to her religious views (Forbes is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, a smaller and more conservative religious group).
Swinney was appointed to the Privy Council on 10 July 2024, entitling him to be styled "The Right Honourable" for life.
