Swinney will 'absolutely' serve five years as First Minister if SNP wins in 2026

John Swinney says he would “absolutely” serve the full five-year term as First Minister if the SNP wins next year’s Holyrood election

Speaking a year ahead of the May 7 vote, Swinney also suggested there could be a route to a second independence referendum within the five years of the next Holyrood term – but stressed this could only happen if the SNP does “really well”.

Asked directly if he would serve the full five-year term as first minister should his party be returned to power, Swinney said: “Yes. I would, absolutely.”

In an interview with the PA news agency, the First Minister also insisted SNP Westminster leader MP Stephen Flynn would be a “great asset” if he is voted into Holyrood as an MSP in 2026.

Swinney described Flynn, who ousted Ian Blackford as SNP leader in the Commons in 2022, as being an “immensely talented individual”.

Flynn, the MP for Aberdeen South, is expected to stand for Holyrood in the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine constituency, where incumbent SNP MSP Audrey Nicoll is stepping down.

Swinney also said he believes the state of the NHS and living standards will be the key issues in the 2026 Holyrood poll.

On the issue of the NHS, he insisted efforts from his government were now beginning to “deliver improvements”.

The First Minister pointed to the target for 64,000 additional procedures to be carried out having already been exceeded – with the Scottish Government saying 105,500 additional surgeries, outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures had been completed in the target time.

With the Scottish Government coming under persistent attack on the state of the NHS, Mr Swinney stressed he is working “very closely” with his Health Secretary Neil Gray “to make sure we deliver improvements in the health service”.

The First Minister said: “We are beginning to see those happening already, with more procedures being undertaken than we envisaged, with diagnostic waiting times coming down and the strengthening of the health service as we move forward.”

As well as pledging that the NHS would “command my attention all the way up to the election”, Mr Swinney said living standards could be a key factor in next May’s vote because people in Scotland are “suffering today because of decisions taken outwith our hands”.

He added: “Brexit has reduced living standards for people in our country. Scotland voted to stay in the European Union and we were dragged out of it against our will and we have become poorer as a consequence.

“And the Labour Government has done nothing in a year to recalibrate that and to improve those living standards.

“They promised to reduce fuel bills for people and fuel bills have gone up.”

Swinney said the “whole issue of standard of living, how people are living their lives, how they feel about their economic circumstances, plays directly into the arguments about who should be taking those decisions”, adding: “I think an independent Scotland should be taking those decisions in the interests of the people of Scotland – that will be the mainstay of what I say to people in May 2026.”

Asked then if the Holyrood election could potentially lead to a second independence referendum, Mr Swinney said: “We only get into that space if the SNP does really well, that is my simple view of the whole thing.

“The SNP has got to do really well.”

Pressed on whether that would mean winning a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament – something the party has only achieved in 2011 when Alex Salmond was leader – Mr Swinney would only repeat that the SNP would have to do “really well”.

He added: “If you look at the political history of Scotland, things only happen to move Scotland on when the SNP does really well.

“That will be my pitch to people in Scotland: if they want to have guaranteed progress on the future of Scotland and for Scotland to become an independent country it is not going to come about by any other means than the SNP doing really well.”