Swinney then and now – what changed? Most Scots say ‘bring in workers from abroad’

John Swinney’s return as SNP leader will feel like deja vu for those who remember his first stint in the job between 2000 and 2004.

The new first minister says much has changed since then and he is a different man with a wealth of government experience under his belt.

Can Mr Swinney make a better go of leading his party than he did 20 years ago, or will he fall foul of the same problems he did back then?

We spoke to the people who had a front-row seat for that first ill-fated leadership to find out what went wrong, and what might be different this time around.

The predecessor… and successor

It was Alex Salmond’s first resignation in 2000 that paved the way for John Swinney’s promotion to leader in September that year.

Then, in the merry-goround of Scottish politics, it was Mr Salmond who stepped back into the SNP leadership void in 2004.

But the two are far from political allies any more.

The EX-SNP leader, who now heads up the Alba Party, is a regular thorn in the side of his old colleagues.

Looking back, Mr Salmond recalls a grim time for his former party.

The party struggled in elections at Westminster in 2001, Holyrood two years later, and in Europe months before Mr Swinney quit.

“John had a torrid time as SNP leader, moving backwards in three elections,” Mr Salmond told us.

“The SNP is not always an easy party to lead but back then the key problem was many activists and some of his MSPS lost confidence in his independence strategy.

“It is not obvious that it is any clearer today.”

Impatience over independence aside, he was full of praise for Mr Swinney’s abilities in government.

The former first minister said: “I found John Swinney an outstanding finance secretary over the first two terms of SNP government and a lynchpin of my administration.”

But goodwill between the two men may be limited given bad blood between the SNP and Alba.

Mr Salmond said Mr Swinney’s efforts to avoid any rival candidates putting their name forward was “unwise”.

But he added: “Seeking to avoid a contest fits in with John’s nature.”

He wants the new first minister to work more closely with his party in lieu of co-operating with the Greens, who helped bring down Humza Yousaf. The close ally Nobody was more delighted to see Mr Swinney running for first minister than his Perthshire SNP ally Pete Wishart.

The veteran MP is a close friend of the new first minister and was in the room when he was elected party leader 24 years ago.

He said his old pal struggled the first time around due to high expectations placed upon the SNP and the fact he was thrust into the role quickly.

Mr Wishart told us: “There was a feeling we would come to dominate the Scottish Parliament, which was relatively new, and it just didn’t happen.

“John had to learn very quickly on the job. That’s sometimes difficult, as Humza Yousaf found following Nicola Sturgeon.”

But Mr Wishart, who has been an MP since 2001, reckons Mr Swinney is now perfect for the role.

He said: “I’ve seen the development of somebody who’s grown in stature. He knows how to make things work.

“He’s been there through the good and bad times. He is now the finished product. There is no one better equipped to lead our country.”

Jack Mcconnell

One man who quite literally had a front-row seat for Mr Swinney’s leadership was former Labour first minister Jack Mcconnell.

He squared off against his SNP rival every Thursday at Holyrood.

Mr Mcconnell, a maths teacher before he entered politics, reckons Mr Swinney’s key focus in the top job needs to be on improving public services – particularly education.

He said: “Improving the education service should be the number one priority, and I hope he makes a better job of that now than he did during the pandemic.”

Mr Swinney’s position as education secretary came under threat in 2020 during an exams marking scandal.

Pupils from poorer backgrounds had their predicted results downgraded because of blanket rules applied to historical results while they were unable to sit formal tests due to Covid.

Labour insiders appear relaxed about the prospect of current leader Anas Sarwar facing off against the new SNP leader each week.

One Labour insider told us Lord Mcconnell actually feared taking on Tory leader David Mcletchie much more than Mr Swinney at the time.

They said: “David Mcletchie was a much tougher opponent for Jack than John Swinney.

“He was sharper, more charismatic, and Jack would go into debates with the two worried only about David.”

“He was incredibly weak,” said veteran Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who was serving as an MSP under Lord Mcconnell at the time. “I do think this feels like back to the future.”

She added: “In education, his mission was to close the attainment gap. He’s not done that. He made such a disaster of the SQA exams.” The SNP dissenter Disunity within the SNP ranks was rife during Mr Swinney’s first tenure in charge – an all too familiar problem for the party over the past year.

Veteran nationalist Margo Macdonald was expelled from the party in 2003 and would be returned to Holyrood later that year as an independent.

Glasgow MSP Dorothygrace Elder quit the SNP a year earlier, and remains scathing about Mr Swinney’s time as leader.

She told us his election as first minister was “bad news” for the independence movement.

The former MSP, who left Holyrood in 2003, said:

“Not all have past experience of Swinney’s disastrous time as party leader, the loss of seats, and credibility.

“I left because of the bullying, dirty tricks, and time waste of his regime – so different from his superficial image. He runs rather than solves anything.”

The expert

James Mitchell, professor of public policy at Edinburgh University, said Mr Swinney has typically been a “company man” who’s shown loyalty to his party above all else.

“He was dealt a difficult hand, though nowhere near as difficult as now,” he told us.

“He wasn’t a leader, was buffeted by events, and lacked strategy.”

Prof Mitchell, who was Strathclyde University’s chairman in politics at the time, said there is a risk Mr Swinney will make the same mistakes as before.

He said: “He’s had a lot of experience, but what has he learned?”

He also reckons Mr Swinney needs to make some big changes to the SNP’S backroom team if he is to succeed.

“If he is serious and wants to show leadership he’d need to do a big clear out,” Prof Mitchell said.

He added: “He needs to replace most special advisers and bring in policy experts.”

The majority of people in Scotland believe employers should be able to recruit from abroad to fill vacancies, a new survey has found.

The Migration Policy Scotland Attitudes to Immigration Survey found support for migration has “cooled”, with 42% of those questioned supporting a reduction in the number of immigrants coming to Scotland, up from 28% in last year’s survey.

However, 61% said employers should be able to recruit from abroad to fill vacancies, and agreement rose to 79% in relation to sectors with critical shortages such as health and social care.

And 78% of respondents said that sectors requiring temporary and seasonal workers such as farming should be able to recruit from overseas.

Dorothy-grace Elder quit the party in 2002.