Perth political strategist Kevin Pringle out of John Swinney’s new SNP team

The Perth political brain behind Humza Yousaf’s year as first minister is out of government and looking for new challenges beyond politics.

Kevin Pringle had returned to the SNP government last year, having already been credited as the strategist who helped Alex Salmond into power in 2007.

But in a dramatic collapse last month, Mr Yousaf quit as leader after throwing the Greens out of his coalition agreement.

Mr Pringle’s post was not renewed in the backroom staff reshuffle under new boss John Swinney, the government confirmed today.

Mr Pringle, who was born in Dundee and raised in Perth, is now looking for a different opportunity.

“Working in government is a privilege, and one I greatly enjoyed, during both the last year and the years after the SNP was first elected in 2007,” he said in a statement.

“I wish the Scottish Government, and indeed MSPs of all parties, well in making the most of the new opportunities that lie ahead.

“Regarding my own professional future, I want to take a little time to explore options for fulfilling challenges outside the world of government and politics.”

Former Courier columnist

Mr Pringle – a former Courier columnist – was taken on last year as “official spokesperson and strategic political adviser” eight years after quitting the SNP spin machine.

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In his time, he was central to the party’s work in securing a landslide in 2011 and laying the foundations for the 2014 referendum campaign.

He was brought back from a private sector consultancy role at Charlotte Street Partners to return to the heart of government last year.

Mr Yousaf was trying to get sorted after a rocky start to his leadership, overshadowed from the beginning by the police financial probe into previous boss Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell.

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One year later, it was over when the Greens were thrown out. Mr Pringle had previously written in The Courier that the SNP did not need to the junior partner to govern.

Mr Pringle, 56, attended Caledonian Road Primary and Perth High School, and went on to graduate from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in economic history and international relations.

He first worked for the SNP in 1989 when future success seemed like a pipe dream and only four MPs sat for the party in Westminster. He credits Mr Salmond with helping him to find his feet.

He was chief spin doctor for the former leader between 2007 and 2012, moving to head the party’s communications operation until he quit in 2015.

He lives in Inverclyde with his family.