John Swinney

The Right Honourable
John Swinney
MSP
The Right Honourable John Swinney MSP
	Official portrait, 2024
First Minister of Scotland
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 8 May 2024
Monarch	Charles III
Deputy	Kate Forbes
Preceded by	Humza Yousaf
Leader of the Scottish National Party
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 May 2024
Depute	Keith Brown
Preceded by	Humza Yousaf
	In office; 26 September 2000 – 3 September 2004
Depute	Roseanna Cunningham
Preceded by	Alex Salmond
Succeeded by	Alex Salmond
First Minister
Cabinet offices; 2007–2023
Deputy First Minister of Scotland
	In office; 21 November 2014 – 28 March 2023
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Succeeded by	Shona Robison
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy
	Acting; 16 July 2022 – 28 March 2023
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Kate Forbes
Succeeded by	Shona Robison (Finance); Neil Gray (Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy)
	In office; 17 May 2007 – 18 May 2016
First Minister	Alex Salmond; Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Tom McCabe
Succeeded by	Derek Mackay; Keith Brown;
Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery
	In office; 20 May 2021 – 28 March 2023
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
	In office; 18 May 2016 – 20 May 2021
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Angela Constance; Roseanna Cunningham;
Succeeded by	Shirley-Anne Somerville
Leader
Party political offices
Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party
	In office; 25 August 1998 – 26 September 2000
Leader	Alex Salmond
Preceded by	Allan Macartney
Succeeded by	Roseanna Cunningham
Preceded by
Parliamentary offices
Member of the Scottish Parliament; for Perthshire North ; North Tayside (1999–2011)
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 6 May 1999
Preceded by	Constituency established
Majority	3,336 (9.8%)
Member of Parliament ; for Tayside North
	In office; 1 May 1997 – 14 May 2001
Preceded by	Bill Walker
Succeeded by	Pete Wishart
Personal details
Born	John Ramsay Swinney; 13 April 1964 (age 60); Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Scottish National Party
Spouses	; Lorna King (m. 1991; div. 1998) (ann. 2003) ; Elizabeth Quigley (m. 2003)
Children	3
Relatives	Tom Hunter (uncle)
Residence	Bute House
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh (MA Hons)
Website	www.johnswinney.scot ; First Minister of Scotland

John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland since May 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on two occasions, since May 2024 and between 2000 and 2004. He has held various roles within the Scottish Cabinet from 2007 to 2023 under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Swinney was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North Tayside from 1999 to 2011 and, following boundary changes, has been MSP for Perthshire North since 2011. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001.

Born in Edinburgh, Swinney graduated with a MA in politics at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the SNP at a young age, and quickly rose to prominence by serving as the National Secretary from 1986 to 1992 and as Deputy Leader from 1998 to 2000. He served in the House of Commons as MP for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001. He was elected to the inaugural Scottish Parliament at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. After Salmond resigned the party leadership in 2000, Swinney was elected at the 2000 leadership election. He became Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP lost one MP at the 2001 general election and eight MSPs at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, despite the Officegate scandal unseating the previous Scottish Labour first minister, Henry McLeish. However, the only parties to gain seats in that election were the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) which, like the SNP, support independence. After an unsuccessful challenge to his leadership in 2003, and the party's unfavourable results at the 2004 European Parliament election, Swinney resigned. Salmond returned to the role at the subsequent 2004 leadership election.

From 2004 to 2007, Swinney was a backbencher. At the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP won the highest number of seats, and Salmond was subsequently appointed first minister. Swinney served under Salmond as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth from 2007 to 2014. After Sturgeon succeeded Salmond, she appointed Swinney as Deputy First Minister in 2014. He also served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy, until that role was divided into two posts in the second Sturgeon government as a result of the expansion of the Scottish Parliament's financial powers; he was then appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in 2016, and then as Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in 2021. On 25 May 2022, Swinney became the longest serving Deputy First Minister, surpassing the previous record which was held by Sturgeon. Swinney served as Acting Finance and Economy Secretary in addition to his position of Covid Recovery Secretary from July 2022 to March 2023. In March 2023, he announced his resignation from his senior positions in response to Sturgeon's resignation as first minister.

Swinney spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee. Following Yousaf's announcement of his resignation in April 2024, Swinney ran to succeed him at the 2024 SNP leadership election and was elected unopposed. His early premiership was marked by the loss of 39 seats at the 2024 general election, reducing the SNP to the second-largest party in Scotland and the fourth-largest party in the Westminster Parliament.

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