John Swinney set to become first minister of Scotland

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John Swinney is on course to become the head of the Scottish National party and next first minister of Scotland after his main challenger Kate Forbes said she would not enter the leadership race.

If elected SNP leader, Swinney would have to work with other parties to become first minister and deliver new legislation, since his party has 63 seats and the opposition has 65.

Forbes announced she would not take part in the SNP leadership contest after Swinney became the first candidate in the race, telling a press conference in Edinburgh that he wanted “to unite the Scottish National party and unite Scotland for independence”.

The former deputy first minister, who led the SNP between 2000 and 2004, said he would offer Forbes a “significant” job in government if elected and described her as “intelligent, creative and thoughtful”.

The decision by Forbes, who narrowly lost out to current first minister Humza Yousaf in last year’s leadership race, will come as a relief to the party hierarchy.

It also means the SNP will probably avoid a repeat of last year’s bruising leadership contest as it seeks a successor to Yousaf.

Yousaf resigned on Monday after losing the support of the Scottish Greens by tearing up a power-sharing arrangement, but will remain head of the devolved government until a replacement is chosen.

Party grandee Swinney is the only candidate to have declared so far, and has received endorsements from senior party figures.

On Thursday, Swinney, 60, rejected suggestions he would serve only a temporary term and vowed to lead the SNP through the UK general election expected this year and beyond Scottish elections due in 2026.

“I am no caretaker, I am no interim leader,” Swinney told reporters, adding that his party faced “difficult times” and that he was standing in order to “sort out” internal divisions.

The SNP faces a big challenge from Labour, which hopes to take more than 20 seats from the nationalist party at the general election. Labour has just two Scottish MPs in Westminster, far from its heyday under Sir Tony Blair when it had 56.

Swinney on Thursday said he stood at the “moderate centre left” of Scottish politics, with a focus on social justice and economic growth to support public services.

Forbes was appointed Scotland’s first female finance secretary in 2020 by then first minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose deputy was Swinney. But her stance on same-sex marriage damaged her campaign last year.