![John Swinney, pictured with Nicola Sturgeon](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2023/02/17/TELEMMGLPICT000314948351_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq3bJgm9-g5nOg3nq7S26U0mqI7Tw8U48ehmFIGIIgwlw.jpeg?imwidth=680)
John Swinney rules himself out of SNP leadership race
Deputy First Minister refuses to endorse any potential candidate at this stage – but future intervention is potentially decisive
![John Swinney, pictured with Nicola Sturgeon](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/politics/2023/02/17/TELEMMGLPICT000314948351_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq3bJgm9-g5nOg3nq7S26U0mqI7Tw8U48ehmFIGIIgwlw.jpeg?imwidth=680)
The SNP leadership contest has been blown wide open after Nicola Sturgeon’s most trusted lieutenant ruled himself out of the race but set himself up as a potential kingmaker.
Sources close to Ms Sturgeon had insisted that John Swinney, the deputy First Minister, would have almost certainly won the leadership race if he had run.
However, he said late on Thursday that he had decided not to stand, claiming the party needed a “fresh perspective” on how to secure independence.
While Mr Swinney refused to endorse any of the potential candidates at this stage, he revealed on Friday morning that he would be likely to do so in future, with his endorsement potentially decisive in the race.
He urged contenders to set out a platform that would “anchor the SNP in the mainstream of Scottish politics”, in what could be interpreted as a coded endorsement of Kate Forbes, who is expected to launch a leadership bid. Like Mr Swinney, Ms Forbes is seen as being on the Right of the party.
Candidates must secure enough support by Feb 24 to make the ballot of members. A new SNP leader will be announced on March 27.
Mr Swinney said: “I think what we need to do now is look afresh at how we proceed as a party, how we build the support for Scottish independence given the fact that the democratic route has been closed off by the UK Government. That needs a fresh perspective, and I want to create some space for that to come forward.
“At this stage in proceedings, I’m not going to express any preferences [for the next leader]. We need to hear which of my colleagues are going to come forward to stand for election. I may say something more about it in due course. At this stage, I’ll keep my counsel.”
Ms Forbes, a new mother and a devout Christian, is believed to have been calling colleagues to gauge her levels of support. The official line from her aides is that she is still enjoying maternity leave with her six-month old baby.
Humza Yousaf, the health secretary, is expected to run despite his reputation having been damaged by the crisis engulfing the NHS.
While Mr Swinney has previously been SNP leader unsuccessfully, between 2000 and 2004, he is hugely popular within his party. He was part of a generation of nationalists, including Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon, who took the SNP and the cause of Scottish independence from the fringes to the mainstream.
The SNP has already ditched Ms Sturgeon’s plan for a special conference to set independence strategy next month, which she hoped would endorse her “de facto referendum” plan. Many believe her idea to turn a general election into a referendum, then declare victory if pro-independence parties win a majority of votes, is now dead.
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Ash Regan, a rebel minister who resigned from Ms Sturgeon’s government to vote against her gender reforms, is believed to be strongly considering a leadership bid.
To make the ballot paper, nominees must gain endorsements from 100 members from at least 20 different regional branches.
Ms Regan called for former SNP members who quit the party, potentially because of opposition to the gender self-ID policy or independence strategy, to be allowed to rejoin and handed a vote in the leadership contest.
However, Mr Swinney dismissed her call as “absolutely ludicrous”, as tensions within the party emerged, adding: “If people leave the SNP then they obviously can’t take part in the democratic wishes of the party. That’s just a completely straightforward point.
“The membership list will be closed, and so it should be. It would be an absolutely ludicrous proposition that you open your membership lists when you’ve got a major vacancy of this type. It’s just preposterous.”