SNP in ‘period of recovery’ from general election, Swinney says

The SNP is in a period of “recovery” from the general election, John Swinney has said, as the party looks ahead to upcoming council by-elections.

The First Minister said his party needs to “strengthen its electoral position” ahead of four by-elections in Glasgow in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, he visited a number of wards in the city, joining activists and candidate Kilian Riley at Ruchazie Pantry in the north-east of Glasgow.

The SNP campaigns will focus heavily on the UK Government’s decision to means-test the winter fuel payment benefit, with Mr Swinney saying this has caused “significant difficulty and hardship for members of the public”.

He said the Scottish Government would be “looking closely at our finances” to determine if any mitigation can be put in place.

The general election saw the SNP fall to nine seats at Westminster as a resurgent Scottish Labour won constituencies across the central belt.

Mr Swinney said this was a “very damaging setback” for his party, which needs to “get our act together”.

He pointed to more recent opinion polling which has put the SNP ahead of Labour in the Scottish Parliament vote.

He told journalists: “Fundamentally, do we need to strengthen our electoral performance? Yes, we do, we’ve got to get our vote up.”

He continued: “It’s very clear that the SNP is in a period of recovery from the general election and we’ve got to just keep at that.

“That’s my job, to make sure the Government is focusing on the priorities of the public and that my party’s out there engaging with communities and campaigning on their behalf.”

Mr Swinney also reflected on the victory of Donald Trump in the US election, reiterating he would welcome the president-elect to Scotland if he chose to visit.

He said: “We can’t pick and choose the outcomes of other democratic systems. If a democratic system makes a choice, it makes a choice.”

Discussing what other parties can learn from the US election, he said: “I haven’t immersed myself in all the whys and wherefores.

“Obviously, the Democrats are doing a lot of soul-searching in the aftermath.

“But certainly what I’m focused on is making sure I address the concerns of people in Scotland.”