The coronation of John Swinney, a 60-year-old yesterday’s man, as SNP leader is bleak news for the independence movement. When Swinney – a three-time loser if ever there was one – was last leader, he took the SNP to 20 per cent in the 2003 European elections. In the 2004 general election the next year, the SNP was left with only six MPs against Scottish Labour’s 41. That was his legacy.
Swinney may say he is ‘no caretaker’ but he looks rather like the undertaker of the independence dream
Today he announced his decision to stand again as SNP leader. What happens next seems to be a foregone conclusion. The SNP is already looking down the barrel of losses in the 2024 general election. Swinney may say he is ‘no caretaker’ but he looks rather like the undertaker of the independence dream. Yet all the leading figures in the SNP have lined up behind the politician who was, and remains, Nicola Sturgeon’s staunchest supporter and ally.
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