John Swinney will only step out of Nicola Sturgeon's shadow if he stops protecting her, writes Daily Record Political Editor Paul Hutcheon. Swinney is damaging his reputation by opposing any inquiry into the Murrell scandal.
The Honeymoon That Ended Too Soon
John Swinney's Holyrood election win was the crowning moment of a long career in politics. He thought he had finally stepped out of the shadow of predecessors Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, who had racked up countless victories. He was also able to draw a line under his first, disastrous spell as leader which saw him pushed out by impatient SNP activists and MSPs. Swinney secured his own legacy on May 7th and he was delighted with his achievement.
But his honeymoon ended within days after corrupt former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell - the estranged husband of Sturgeon - pled guilty to embezzlement. He has badly mishandled the aftermath of the biggest scandal in his party's history and he keeps compounding his mistakes.
A Flawed Strategy
Swinney's implacable opposition to any inquiry into Murrell-gate puts him on the wrong side of the argument and makes him look shifty. Senior SNP figures believe he could be gone ahead of the 2029 general election, three years after his Holyrood triumph. The SNP leader's opposition to a Scottish Parliament probe is not difficult to understand. He wants Holyrood to be focused on child poverty, indyref2 and capping supermarket prices, rather than endless demands for internal SNP files on their slack financial controls.
But the SNP/Green block on an inquiry is short-sighted and will lead to a more painful investigation led by Westminster. The Scottish Affairs Committee - unlike the in-built Nationalist majority at Holyrood - has minimal SNP involvement or influence. The SAC also has greater powers to retrieve documents and pressurise witnesses into attending. If, as a senior SNP source told me last week, Swinney's party boycotts the probe, the news cycle could be dominated by senior Nationalists being found in contempt of the UK Parliament.
The Looming Westminster Probe
The Labour-dominated SAC will also be in no rush to finish their inquiry and it is plausible it could drag on until next year. Some SNP figures believe Swinney could try and head off Westminster by appointing a KC to lead an internal SNP inquiry. Such an exercise has merit, but it would still be seen as the SNP trying to mark their own homework.
The smart move from Swinney's perspective remains a tightly-focused inquiry led by Holyrood. The SNP and Greens would have control and be able to stop the probe from veering off into unwanted directions. But Swinney is in a bunker on Murrell-gate and shows no sign of showing better judgement.
A Leader in Denial
He is giving lawyerly answers to legitimate questions and losing his patience with journalists who pick apart his tetchy responses. The suspicion persists he does not want to agree to a probe that reflects badly on his predecessor. Properly stepping out of Sturgeon's shadow means agreeing to an inquiry that would likely prove embarrassing for his former boss.
