The First Minister will lead an election campaign with many of his front bench team leaving politics, writes TERRY MURDEN
In the images of a ceremony in London to mark the UK’s formal recognition of the State of Palestine there was John Swinney, front of camera alongside Husam Zomlot, the nascent new state’s ambassador to the UK. Hours later the First Minister was back in the Scottish parliament hailing the Maclean brothers who had rowed across the Pacific, breaking records and raising over £1 million for clean water projects in Madagascar.
The First Minister is popping up everywhere, taking every opportunity to be part of everyone’s story. The same FM who was recently in Washington making the case to the US president to cut tariffs on Scotch whisky. Last week he was dining with the King in Windsor Castle.
Whatever else people might think of his omnipresence, no one can accuse him of being a slouch. Apart from challenging Air Miles Angus [Robertson, the Culture Secretary, known for his globetrotting] and his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon for photo opportunities, it seems Mr Swinney has got the travel bug to ensure his party is credited with being on the front row for all the big stories.
Could this enthusiasm for personal recognition be anything to do with knowing he goes into next year’s election campaign with a large chunk of his Cabinet working their notice?
The SNP is losing Deputy FM and Economy Secretary Kate Forbes, Shona Robison from finance, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon. The energetic business minister Richard Lochhead is also stepping down.
While they are fully committed to their roles until May, it leaves Mr Swinney exposed to claims that he is leading a lame duck government for the last session of this parliament, seeking votes while his own first team doesn’t want to be there.
In that respect, Mr Swinney’s party enjoys one similarity to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in that neither goes into the May Scottish elections with an identified line-up of front benchers. That leaves the voters wondering just who might be running the government if the SNP is re-elected.
Mr Swinney will be looking to promote the candidatures of those with House of Commons experience, with Stephen Flynn, Stephen Gethins, Alison Thewliss and Alyn Smith seen as likely replacements for those exiting, and Flynn surely a shoo-in to replace Forbes.
There is some surprise that Mr Swinney has not acted sooner to promote from within in order to have at least some new blood ready to be unleashed on the electorate. The new roles given last week to Graeme Dey and Ben Macpherson following the resignation of parliamentary business minister Jamie Hepburn over the spat with former Tory leader Douglas Ross was, perhaps, a lost opportunity for a bigger shake-up.
It may say something about the lack of depth in the party. Or maybe a lack of loyalty to Mr Swinney who has failed to produce a convincing path to independence and has been seen by some as too eager to engage in posturing over world affairs instead of focusing on devolved matters.
Terry Murden held senior positions at The Sunday Times, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and The Northern Echo and is now editor of Daily Business
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