Swinney, 60, will become Scotland's seventh First Minister since the beginning of devolution in 1999.
John Swinney is expected to be voted in as First Minister today when MSPs gather at the Scottish Parliament.
Under Holyrood rules, any MSP from any party can nominate themselves to become First Minister if a vacancy arises - but Swinney will be the only candidate to secure the required votes to pass.Once elected by MSPs, Swinney will visit the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday where he will be formally sworn into office as Humza Yousaf's successor.He insisted he was “deeply honoured” to take on the role and promisied to “give all that I have to serve my party and my country”.
The new SNP leader told Scots: “If elected first minister, my focus will be the economy, jobs, the cost of living. It will be the National Health Service, our schools and our public services. It will be addressing the climate crisis.”But he insisted that rival parties’ opposition to this was “not a reason for them to refuse to work with us to build the economy, support jobs and improve the health service”.
Scottish politics Anas Sarwar, the party's leader, said: "John Swinney’s coronation is entirely about managing the SNP rather than running our country and delivering for Scotland."John Swinney has been at the heart of this incompetent government for 17 years and at the heart of the SNP for 40 years.
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