Scotland’s deputy first minister John Swinney to resign

• John Swinney, the deputy first minister, has announced his intention to leave the Scottish government.
• After nearly 16 years, John Swinney has served in the Scottish Government since 2007.
• And is one of only three MSPs to have represented the same electorate since 1999.

John Swinney, the deputy first minister, has declared his intention to leave the Scottish government after nearly 16 years.

Since becoming Nicola Sturgeon’s first minister in 2014, the 58-year-old has served as her deputy.

After a new first minister is chosen later this month, Mr. Swinney will step down.

Mr. Swinney stated that it had been a “honor to serve Scotland” in a letter to Ms. Sturgeon, who made her own resignation announcement last month.

Since the Scottish Parliament’s inception in 1999, Mr. Swinney has served as an SNP member of parliament.

He served as the party’s leader for four years, from 2000 to 2004, held the positions of education and finance secretaries in the cabinet, and has been the nation’s deputy first minister since 2014.

Ms. Sturgeon praised Mr. Swinney for his “deep concern and commitment to the wellbeing of our nation” and stated that she could not have asked for a greater “partner in government”.

Mr. Swinney ruled himself out of contention to succeed Ms. Sturgeon when she announced her resignation, saying he wanted to “provide the room” for “new perspective” within the SNP.

Despite rumors that he could support Mr. Yousaf, he has not yet openly endorsed any of the three contestants, Ash Regan, Kate Forbes, or Humza Yousaf.

However, when Ms. Forbes said she would not have voted for gay marriage if she had been an MSP at the time, Mr. Swinney intervened to say he profoundly disagreed with her despite having “deep religious faith” himself.

He questioned whether she should lead the SNP if her ideas were accepted.

Mr. Swinney was up in Edinburgh and joined the SNP when he was 15 years old. He has been a steadfast member of the organisation for decades.

Before winning the North Tayside seat in Westminster in 1997, he held a number of positions of increasing responsibility by the time he was 22 years old, including national secretary.

He moved to Parliament two years later and, with a few boundary changes, has represented the same area of Perthshire ever since. He is one of only three MSPs to have represented the same electorate continuously since 1999.

Mr. Swinney’s rise through the ranks of the SNP was complete in 2000, when he was elected leader following the (first) departure of Alex Salmond.

However, his leadership was not a great success for the party and he stood down, saying that the SNP was “not yet seen as an alternative government in waiting”.

Three years later Alex Salmond took the SNP into power in Scotland and Mr. Swinney was handed a key role as finance secretary.

He kept that role when Nicola Sturgeon became first minister after the 2014 independence referendum defeat, as well as becoming deputy first minister.

Mr. Swinney was moved to education after Ms. Sturgeon reorganized her staff following the 2016 election.

He was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in 2021.

Mr. Swinney stated in his letter of resignation that serving in the Scottish Government since 2007 has been the greatest honor of his life.

Ms. Sturgeon replied: “Your contribution to our nation, almost 16 years in government is considerable, indeed unique.

“Therefore, while I – perhaps more than most – completely understand your decision, I still felt a real sense of sadness when you told me of it.”

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