{"id":16350,"date":"2024-08-27T17:53:49","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T17:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=16350"},"modified":"2026-04-18T19:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T19:34:30","slug":"snp-company-man-cant-save-the-party-he-loves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2024\/08\/snp-company-man-cant-save-the-party-he-loves\/","title":{"rendered":"SNP ‘Company Man’ can\u2019t save the party he loves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Swinney can be credited for stepping into the breach at challenging times for the SNP.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

He joined the SNP and became active aged 15 just after traumatic defeats for the SNP in 1979.\u00a0 The turmoil following the 1979 devolution referendum led to a general election in which the SNP lost nine of its eleven seats and its vote fell from 30% to 17%.\u00a0 His first election campaign saw him delivering leaflets in Edinburgh in June that year, impressing others with his commitment, speed in delivering leaflets on his bike and the simple fact that a young person had become active when voters and members were drifting away.\u00a0 The SNP won just 12% in Lothians but that did not put him off.<\/p>\n

Swinney attended his first SNP National Council, then a serious and important decision-making forum, and the following year \u00a0his first SNP conference.\u00a0 It was a raucous affair.\u00a0 This was when the 79 Group \u2013 committed to independence, socialism and republicanism \u2013 played a significant part in retaining many young members inside the party, though the Group was not for Swinney. \u00a0He has not missed an SNP conference since.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He became loyal to his political mentor Gordon Wilson. \u00a0But, as often happens after a party suffers a heavy defeat, the SNP became introspective and divided with many activists searching for scapegoats and easy solutions.\u00a0 He watched the SNP tear itself apart and saw how long it took to rebuild.\u00a0 This early formative experience may explain his intolerance of dissent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From back office guy to key player<\/h2>\n

Based in Edinburgh meant he was able to help out at the SNP\u2019s headquarters.\u00a0 Neil McCallum, SNP National Secretary, asked Swinney to be his Assistant. \u00a0When McCallum became unwell, Swinney stepped in as Acting National Secretary while completing his final year at Edinburgh University.\u00a0 In 1986, Wilson worked to secure Swinney\u2019s election to that key post at just 22.\u00a0 Swinney was very much in Gordon Wilson\u2019s camp.\u00a0 This loyalty to the party and incumbent leader became a hallmark of his politics.<\/p>\n

Few understood or were interested in the intricacies of the SNP\u2019s internal workings as John Swinney.\u00a0 He became the \u2018company man\u2019, with allegiance to the party\u2019s interests as defined by the leader, before personal beliefs or other loyalties.<\/p>\n

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This loyalty transcended individual leaders.\u00a0 Few in the SNP than Swinney were more loyal to Gordon Wilson, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon despite their different styles, strategies and ideologies. \u00a0Wilson makes Kate Forbes look socially liberal.\u00a0 Swinney\u2019s denunciation of her in last year\u2019s SNP leadership contest can only be explained by his loyalty to outgoing party leader Sturgeon.\u00a0 Her appointment as Deputy First Minister appears to be a belated apology.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Though he was National Secretary in 1990 when Alex Salmond defeated Margaret Ewing for the SNP leadership, and thereby had to remain neutral, it was no secret that he preferred Ewing.\u00a0 Salmond, however, recognised his National Secretary\u2019s value and was keen to have a constructive relationship.\u00a0 In 1992, Swinney easily defeated Fiona Hyslop as SNP Vice Convenor for Policy, arguably the third most senior position in the SNP.\u00a0 Over the following years, the Salmond-Swinney team moulded the SNP into the shape it would become under devolution.\u00a0 Swinney led on the need for a more professional organisation.<\/p>\n

Four SNP players then became key: Salmond, Swinney, Mike Russell and Kenny MacAskill.\u00a0 Nicola Sturgeon was becoming noticed as a good media performer, someone who could be rolled out to defend the party when in a tight spot, but still not a central player.\u00a0 Allan Macartney, a much respected and popular but less central figure, was formally deputy leader.\u00a0 His death in 1998 created a vacancy which Swinney filled, very much with Salmond\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

Westminster or Holyrood?<\/h2>\n

Swinney stood for Parliament unsuccessfully in North Tayside in 1992 and won five years later.\u00a0 Salmond had shifted the SNP from a hardline fundamentalist position to support devolution.\u00a0 Gordon Wilson opposed devolution but Swinney had transferred his loyalty to the new leader. \u00a0SNP expectations, not for the first or last time, were unrealistic in the first elections (1999) to the Scottish Parliament where it had disappointing results. The party did not initially come to terms well with the new devolved Parliament but had assumed that devolution would automatically increase SNP support.\u00a0 It was another difficult period for the SNP, not helped as Salmond swiftly grew tired of the Scottish Parliament, preferring the Commons.<\/p>\n

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A year later Salmond resigned provoking a leadership contest in which Swinney faced Alex Neil.\u00a0 Once more Swinney stepped forward.\u00a0 Swinney defeated Alex Neil, winning 67% of votes cast at SNP conference.\u00a0 Roseanna Cunningham defeated Kenny MacAskill for the deputy post that Swinney had vacated. Swinney and Cunningham came from different wings of the SNP, had different personalities, skills and ideologies but worked well together.\u00a0 She would become a loyal and trusted deputy, someone he could rely on when the going got tough.<\/p>\n

Sturgeon was emerging as a key figure, not least as she had honed her already impressive communication skills but she remained distrusted in sections of the SNP and was not always available when Swinney\u2019s leadership came under fire.\u00a0 Her ambition was obvious but she lacked a significant party base.<\/p>\n

Leadership challenges<\/h2>\n

It was remarkably easy to challenge an incumbent leader under the SNP\u2019s constitution at that time.\u00a0 A relatively unknown activist (Bill Wilson) became a stalking horse against Swinney in 2003.\u00a0 Swinney won easily with 511 votes to 111 but this victory was less decisive than the numbers suggested.\u00a0 Dissatisfaction with his leadership grew.\u00a0 Swinney proposed internal party reforms, drawing on his deep understanding of the SNP\u2019s structures, which would make leadership challenges more difficult and shift power away from the activists.\u00a0 Swinney\u2019s reforms which would be his most notable legacy comprised:<\/p>\n