John Swinney

His maternal grandparents, Ramsey and Mary Hunter, were from England, having moved to Edinburgh in the 1920s.

John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023.

John Ramsay Swinney was born on 13 April 1964 in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, the son of Kenneth Swinney, a garage manager, and Agnes Weir Swinney (née Hunter).

His uncle Tom Hunter was awarded the Victoria Cross whilst serving with the Royal Marines during the Second World War.

Swinney joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1979 at the age of 15, citing his anger at the way in which Scotland had been portrayed by television commentators at the Commonwealth Games.

He quickly became a prominent figure in the party's youth wing, the Young Scottish Nationalist, now known as the Young Scots for Independence (YSI).

He joined the SNP at a young age and quickly rose to prominence serving as the National Secretary from 1986 to 1992 and Depute Leader of the SNP from 1998 to 2000.

He was educated at Forrester High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with an Master of Arts Honours degree in politics in 1986.

He served as the SNP's Assistant National Secretary, before becoming the National Secretary in 1986, at the age of 22.

Swinney was a research officer for the Scottish Coal Project from 1987 to 1988, a senior management consultant with Development Options from 1988 to 1992, and a strategic planning principal with Scottish Amicable Life Assurance from 1992 to 1997.

At the time of the 1990 leadership contest he supported Margaret Ewing in her bid to become SNP leader, but this did not stop him becoming politically close to the man who went on to win that contest, Alex Salmond.

He served as the national secretary until 1992, then vice convenor, later senior vice-convenor (deputy leader) from 1992 to 1997.

Swinney served in the British House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001.

At the 1997 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Tayside North constituency, and in 1999 he was elected to represent the same area at the Scottish Parliament.

He was elected to the inaugural Scottish Parliament in 1999.

In 1999, Swinney was elected to the 1st Scottish Parliament, representing the North Tayside constituency.

In Salmond's opposition cabinet, he served as the Spokesman on Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.

He also served on the Parliament's Finance Committee and was the Convener of the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee.

He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2000 to 2004.

Born in Edinburgh, Swinney graduated with a MA in politics at the University of Edinburgh.

After Alex Salmond resigned the party leadership in 2000, Swinney was elected Leader of the Scottish National Party in the ensuing leadership contest.

He became Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament.

In 2000, Alex Salmond resigned as leader of the SNP, which triggered a leadership contest.

Swinney ran in the election against Alex Neil.

The leadership contest was dominated by internal fights in the party between Gradualists, who advocated Scottish devolution as step towards independence, and Fundamentalists, who were suspicious of devolution and supported a more radical approach.

Swinney represented the gradualist wing and Neil represented the fundamentalists wing.

Swinney's leadership proved ineffectual, with a loss of one MP in 2001 and a further reduction to 27 MSPs in 2003 despite the Officegate scandal unseating previous First Minister Henry McLeish.

However, the only parties to gain seats in that election were the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) which, like the SNP, support independence.

He stood down as a Westminster MP at the 2001 general election in order to avoid splitting his time, in line with all of his colleagues who found themselves in a similar 'dual mandate' position.

After an unsuccessful leadership challenge in 2003, Swinney stepped down following disappointing results in the 2004 European Parliament election with Salmond returning to the role in the subsequent 2004 leadership contest.

From 2004 to 2007, Swinney sat in the SNP's opposition backbench.

He held various Scottish Cabinet roles under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon from 2007 to 2023.

In the 2007 Scottish election, the SNP won the highest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament and Salmond was subsequently appointed First Minister of Scotland.

Swinney served under Salmond as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth from 2007 to 2014.

Swinney has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North since 2011, having previously represented North Tayside from 1999 to 2011.

After Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Salmond, she appointed Swinney as Deputy First Minister of Scotland in 2014.

He also served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy, until that role was divided into two posts in the second Sturgeon government as a result of the expansion of the Scottish Parliament's financial powers; he was then appointed Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills in 2016, and then as Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery in 2021.

On 25 May 2022, Swinney became the longest serving Deputy First Minister, surpassing the previous record which was held by Sturgeon.

Swinney served as Acting Finance Secretary in addition to his position of Covid Recovery Secretary from July 2022 to March 2023, covering the duties of Kate Forbes during her period of maternity leave.

In March 2023, Swinney announced his resignation as Deputy First Minister in response to Nicola Sturgeon's resignation as First Minister.