John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland since 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party since 2024, and previously between 200
Official portrait, 2026
Swinney speaking in a Scottish Parliament debate, June 2000
Swinney in the Scottish Parliament, April 2000
Swinney's official portrait as Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Growth
The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. It holds 57 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 8 out of the 57 Scottish seats in t
John Swinney
…graduated with a MA in politics at the University of Edinburgh. He joined the SNP at 15 years of age, and quickly rose to prominence by serving as the National Secretary from 1986 to 1992 and as Deputy Leader from 1998 to 2000. He served in the House of Commons as MP for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001. He was elected…
Alexander MacEwen, the first leader of the Scottish National Party from 1934 to 1936
The first SNP government led by Alex Salmond as First Minister of Scotland, here seated next to Nicola Sturgeon who served as his deputy, in Bute House
Nicola Sturgeon led the party and served as First Minister for eight years from November 2014 to March 2023.
Sturgeon addresses journalists at Bute House over her plans to hold a referendum in 2023, a proposal that would fail after the Supreme Court ruled the parliament didn't have the power.