First Minister John Swinney has claimed he “rescued the SNP from a position of enormous peril” after taking the helm in 2024. Speaking to The Herald, Mr Swinney said the party was “in danger of collapse” when he succeeded Humza Yousaf.
Mr Swinney took up the post months before the general election, in which the SNP suffered heavy losses. The party went into the 2024 UK general election as the largest party at Westminster from Scotland, having won 48 out of 59 seats in 2019, but lost 39 seats, winning only nine and becoming the second largest party representing Scottish seats behind Scottish Labour.
Despite having recently stepped down after a long career, Mr Swinney said he would have felt a “real sense of regret” if he had not come forward to “try and repair the situation”. He added that he had “literally rescued the SNP from a position of enormous peril”.
In last week’s Scottish Parliament election, the SNP secured 58 MSPs, falling seven short of a majority but restoring its place as the largest party in Scotland. Mr Swinney said he had “restored its relationship with the public” by focusing on rebuilding internal relationships and ensuring good democratic governance, so the party “face[s] outwards and not look[s] inwards”.
