Almost 18 years of SNP Government has left every single institution in Scotland weaker. In that time First Ministers have come and gone, Cabinets have been reshuffled, coalitions have formed and collapsed – but one constant has been John Swinney.
John Swinney has been at the heart of the SNP government since the very beginning and his fingerprints are all over some of its worst failures.
Despite the SNP’s best attempts to pass John Swinney – a man first elected as SNP leader at the turn of the millennium – as the party’s fresh new face, his record speaks for itself.
As Finance Secretary, John Swinney was the architect of austerity in Scotland, striking budget deals with Tories and raiding Council budgets year after year.
We can still see the devastating legacy of this in our struggling local communities and in Scotland’s precarious public finances.
Next, Nicola Sturgeon put her trusted deputy in charge of Education and tasked him with closing Scotland’s poverty-related attainment gap.
Not only did John Swinney fail miserably to close the attainment gap, but in 2020 he went further and formalised it.
When exams were cancelled because of Covid, John Swinney agreed to a marking system that would have downgraded the results of pupils from the poorest communities.
Talented young people from deprived backgrounds were to be robbed of their achievements purely because of their postcode.
A no-confidence vote forced John Swinney to u-turn on this shameful policy – but it was his own future he was worried about, not the futures of the working class kids his grading system hurt.
No matter what role he’s in, one part of the job ‘Full On John’ always fully embraces is sweeping SNP dirt under the rug.
As Deputy First Minister, John Swinney was instrumental in engineering the SNP’s culture of secrecy. He was even threatened with another confidence vote after he refused to disclose information to a Holyrood Committee, and again u-turned only to protect his own job.
He puts party interest ahead of the national interest at every opportunity – recently with Michael Matheson and now with Neil Gray.
The Swinney era is not a clean break from the chaos and sleaze of the last few years – it’s more of the same.
That’s bad news for our NHS, which John Swinney has pledged to take charge of.
Almost one in six Scots are on an NHS waiting list, thousands of Scots face dangerously long waits in A&E, cancer treatment targets are being missed and delayed discharge is rife.
Our NHS needs a change in direction – but John Swinney isn’t capable of delivering it. He hollowed out communities, betrayed the poorest schoolkids, and fostered a corrosive culture of cover-up at the heart of government.
The truth is, the only way to get the change in direction that our country needs is with a change in government. In 2026, Scottish Labour is ready to put an end to SNP failure and unlock Scotland’s immense potential.
For years now low growth has plagued Scotland’s economy and held back our communities, but Labour is determined to get our economy back on track.
Growth is Labour’s top priority
Last week the Labour government set out plans for a new Strategic Partnership between the National Wealth Fund and the Glasgow City Region.
This initiative will help secure growth and will unlock investment in sectors where Scotland has huge economic potential, such as tech and green energy.
Kickstarting economic growth after years of Tory failure has been a top priority for the UK Labour government and it is an absolutely vital mission.
Boosting growth will create jobs, spread prosperity and provide a much needed boost to public finances. This initiative is just one part of the transformative work Labour is doing to fix the foundations of our country.
From the National Wealth Fund to GB Energy to the plan to Make Work Pay, Labour is delivering for Scotland and working to build a stronger, fairer economy.
That’s the difference it makes to have a Labour government that is on Scotland’s side. Labour is turning the page of 14 years of Tory neglect and delivering for Scotland’s communities and economy.
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