Swinney replaces Humza Yousaf, who officially resigned Tuesday after just over a year in the job.
The Scottish Parliament has appointed political veteran John Swinney of the Scottish National Party (SNP) as the country’s first minister.
Swinney, 60, succeeds Humza Yousaf, who formally resigned from his position on Tuesday after announcing last week that he would step down after just over a year at the helm.
Yousaf, 39, announced ahead of a confidence vote in the Scottish Parliament that he would lose after abandoning the SNP’s junior coalition partner, the Scottish Greens, in a dispute over climate policy.
Swinney won the support of 64 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in the vote, which was anything but a foregone conclusion. His nearest rival, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, scored 31 points.
The political veteran said it was “somewhat of a surprise” that he had taken the top job at this stage of his career, but added it was “an extraordinary privilege”.
“I am here to serve you. I will give everything to build the best future for our country,” he told parliament after accepting the nomination.
Swinney, a veteran party stalwart who led the SNP from 2000 to 2004 when the Nationalists were in opposition, was elected unopposed as SNP leader.
He is seen as an experienced actor who can bridge the political divide, which is crucial to the SNP’s rule as a minority government.
Swinney also needs to unite his divided party, which is split between those on the left who support trans rights and urgent climate action and members on the right who want to focus on issues like health and the economy.
He said that as well as promoting Scottish independence, he also wanted to eradicate child poverty.
But he inherits a difficult political legacy: former SNP leader and ally Nicola Sturgeon is embroiled in a party funding scandal and a challenging domestic political landscape.
Resurgent work
The SNP is expected to lose several seats in the British Parliament to the resurgent Labor Party in this year’s general election.
The SNP currently has 43 seats in Westminster. Labor hopes a comeback in its former stronghold of Scotland will help it win an absolute majority in the national vote.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Conservative, said he looked forward to working “constructively” with Swinney “on the real issues that matter to families – job creation, growth and better public services for people across Scotland.” .
Critics accused the SNP, which has been in power in the devolved parliament in Edinburgh for 17 years, of focusing on the pursuit of independence at the expense of issues such as the cost of living crisis and education.
Since Scotland voted against leaving the United Kingdom in 2014, the party has struggled to regain momentum for another independence referendum.
Although the SNP has slumped in the polls since Sturgeon’s resignation in March last year, support for independence remains at around 40 per cent, giving the party cause for hope.
The SNP holds 63 seats in the 129-member Scottish Parliament, two of which it lacks a majority, meaning Swinney will need support from other parties to pass legislation.
He has said he will not revive the defunct power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens and will address the issues on a case-by-case basis.