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When John Swinney emerged as the frontrunner to lead the Scottish National Party following Humza Yousaf’s resignation as first minister, critics asked what the political veteran could offer.
On Thursday the MSP for Perthshire North set out his response to a community project in Edinburgh’s historic Grassmarket: his ability to unite a party in disarray after 17 years in power.
At a campaign launch, Swinney presented a center-left policy platform that he said would reunite a party headed for “difficult times” and put it back on the path to independence.
“I have steered the SNP government through some pretty difficult waters in the past,” he said. Recalling the skepticism over his ability to pass a budget when he became finance minister in a minority SNP government in 2007, he quipped: “Well, I got ten budgets through the Scottish Parliament.”
Swinney’s path to the SNP leadership became clear on Thursday when his main potential rival, Kate Forbes, resigned. Now the man who previously led his party in opposition will try to shore up a government that has been shaken to its core in recent weeks.
“We have had great successes but also very difficult times – he has the muscle memory of someone who has been on this journey, the experience and seriousness to be a unifying force,” said Kaukab Stewart, SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin.
Swinney, now Scotland’s longest-serving MP, entered the bear pit of Holyrood politics as an MSP in 1999, two years after he was first elected as an MP at Westminster.
He was appointed SNP leader in 2000, when the nationalist party was still an emerging force that had never governed in Scotland. He joined the party as a teenager.
He resigned in 2004 without achieving the post of First Minister after performing poorly in the European elections. But when his successor Alex Salmond brought the SNP into government three years later, Swinney held a key cabinet position as finance minister.
The astute political survivor was a valued member of Nicola Sturgeon’s close-knit “kitchen cabinet”, which dominated decision-making in her centralized administration from 2014 onwards.
Sturgeon and the SNP’s reputation has been tarnished since she resigned amid a police investigation into SNP finances. Her husband and former party leader Peter Murrell has been charged in connection with the investigation.
Swinney was not implicated, but he resigned as deputy first minister when Sturgeon resigned, returning to the backbenches after 16 years in cabinet. Critics derisively described him as the SNP’s “continuity candidate 2.0” after Yousaf, another close ally of Sturgeon.
The slim 60-year-old lives in the Perthshire highlands, an ideal backdrop for his hobbies of walking, running and cycling. He turned down the leadership campaign last year that made Yousaf special, saying he wanted to spend more time at home with his family, including his ailing wife.
His long years in government have affected parts of his balance sheet. Last year, a report by Lord Andrew Hardie into an inquiry into Edinburgh’s trams criticized Swinney’s role as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the delayed, over-budgeted transport project, including his “lack of openness” – a charge denied by Swinney.
Earlier this week Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was forced to apologize in Parliament for describing Swinney as “not so honest John”.
Swinney said Thursday he would try to build bridges across the House as he tries to build a working majority for legislation and urged lawmakers to behave with “good decorum.”
He added that he was “slightly pessimistic” about working with the Tories.
The SNP has 63 MSPs, just a majority. It previously governed in a coalition with the Scottish Greens until Yousaf’s power-sharing deal collapsed. The next Scottish Parliament election is not scheduled until 2026.
Swinney will have to convince some from other parties to at least tolerate his rise to first minister until then. His next task will be to stem the loss of SNP MPs as Labor attempts to gain Westminster seats in the upcoming general election.