John Swinney has been formally backed as Scotland’s new first minister in a vote at Holyrood on the day Humza Yousaf handed his resignation letter to the King.
Marking the change of leader today, Mr Swinney told parliament: “I hope we can all recognise that despite our political differences, we’re all here because we want the best for Scotland, whatever our specific role happens to be.
“For me, it is with all my experience – but with much more than that – with my burning ambition for a better future for this country, that I am seeking to become first minister.”
He pledged to listen to those who voted for pro-independence parties in 2021 as well as those who did not.
Earlier, Mr Yousaf said he hopes to have inspired young people that they can follow in his footsteps.
“As a young Muslim boy, born and raised in Scotland, I could never have dreamt that one day I would have the privilege of leading my country – people who looked like me, were not in positions of political influence, let alone leading governments when I was younger,” he said.
How the SNP leadership crisis began
Only eight days have passed since the Dundee-based MSP threw in the towel.
He’d been caught in an unstoppable backlash after ditching the Greens from his loose coalition at Holyrood.
It became clear he could not govern a minority SNP party with no confidence from any other group.
Mr Swinney – a long-serving former deputy first minister – emerged as the only candidate to take on the SNP leadership post.
Greens abstain
Labour, Tory and Lib Dem leaders spoke against Mr Swinney in parliament, drawing attention to his former ill-fated leadership of the SNP 20 years ago before Alex Salmond stepped back in.
But Green MSPs said they would abstain on the final vote, ensuring the SNP could not be beaten with their choice for first minister.
In a speech at Glasgow University on Monday, Mr Swinney called for unity as he starts to look towards reshaping his Scottish Government.
“We need to stop shouting at each other and talk,” he said.
“More than that, actually, we need to listen. As first minister, I will do exactly that.”
He used the speech – his first as party leader – to mark a “new chapter” and confirmed there will be no return to any formal deal with the Green party.
Mr Swinney claimed the SNP would “get our act together” and win back the votes of supporters of Scottish independence who may have turned away from the party.
“If someone is an independence supporter in Scotland and they they want Scotland to be independent there’s only one political party that will ever deliver and that’s the Scottish National Party,” he added.
Elections yet to come
Mr Swinney is now likely to be taken to the Court of Session on Edinburgh’s historic High Street to be formally sworn in on Wednesday.
Then he has his first proper First Minister’s Questions to deal with – and two years to get the SNP into shape before the next Holyrood election … if he can steer the party through the upcoming UK general election unscathed.
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