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

At the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP won the highest number of seats, and Salmond was subsequently appointed first minister.

Swinney spent the duration of Humza Yousaf's premiership on the backbenches and served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee.

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

[5][6] Swinney was educated at Forrester High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with a Master of Arts Honours degree in politics in 1986.

[8] Swinney joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1979 at the age of 15,[9] citing his anger at the way in which Scotland had been portrayed by television commentators at the Commonwealth Games.

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.

[42] Swinney's predecessor, Salmond, stated "consolidating as the second party in Scotland is no mean achievement" and highlighted it put the SNP in a good position for the upcoming Scottish Parliament election in 2003.

[43] Following the results of the election, Swinney admitted there were "lessons to learn" and ensured the SNP would be the "principal opposition party in Scottish politics".

[47][48] Following the results of the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Bill Wilson, a party activist, became convinced that a change of direction was needed by the SNP leadership.

[50] Wilson ran a campaign attacking Swinney's proposals for party reform, which he claimed would centralise power and impoverish local branches.

[51][52] The election was yet another fight between the party's fundamentalists and gradualists, with Wilson attacking Swinney's proposal for a referendum on independence before pursuing negotiations with the British government.

"[58] Though retaining its two seats at the 2004 European elections, in a smaller field of 7 (Scotland up until then had 8 MEPs) the Scottish press and certain elements within the fundamentalist wing of the Party depicted the result as a disaster for the SNP putting further pressure on Swinney to resign.

[63][64][65] He was succeeded by Alex Salmond after winning more than 75% of votes against Roseanna Cunningham and Michael Russell on a joint leadership ticket with Nicola Sturgeon.

[76] Subsequently, a freedom of information request showed that even if Swinney had funded the mechanism, problems and delays in the HM Revenue & Customs computer system made any collection of the tax impossible.

The Scottish Government added, "The power has not lapsed, the HMRC simply does not have an IT system capable of delivering a ten-month state of readiness.

[88][89] In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP lost its overall majority, but remained the largest party with Sturgeon securing a second term as first minister.

[92][93] After the 2017 General Election saw the SNP lose 21 seats, pollster Professor John Curtice told the BBC that the party's record on education had likely dented its popularity: "The SNP may want to reflect that their domestic record, not least on schools, is beginning to undermine their support among those who on the constitutional question are still willing to support the Nationalist position.

[97] During the No Confidence debate, Nicola Sturgeon described him as "one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics", while The Herald newspaper reported that: "Mr Swinney endured a deeply uncomfortable hour in the Holyrood chamber, as opposition MSPs said he had been a serial failure at the education portfolio, and he knew it.

[102][better source needed] After two votes in Parliament failed to persuade him to publish the advice, opposition parties announced a motion of no confidence in him.

[102] Swinney u-turned and published the advice; the Scottish Greens declared they would not support the motion of no confidence and it was defeated by 65 votes to 57.

[105] Swinney also served as Acting Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy from July 2022, whilst Kate Forbes was on maternity leave.

Following Yousaf's resignation in April 2024 amid a government crisis, Swinney launched his leadership bid on 2 May, after Kate Forbes, who was a serious contender to become leader, dropped out and endorsed him.

[113] Swinney was officially sworn into office as first minister of Scotland on 8 May 2024 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh after receiving the Royal Warrant of Appointment by King Charles III.

In an interview with Sky News, Swinney said "if we look at two of the biggest issues we face as a country in Scotland; the effect of the cost of living and the implications of Brexit.

High profile SNP MPs lost their seats in the election, including Kirsten Oswald, Tommy Sheppard, Alison Thewliss and Joanna Cherry.

[127] Storm Éowyn made impact in Scotland on 24 January 2025, leaving around 117,000 homes across the country without power and electricity supply, with wind speeds as high as 102mph recorded on the Tay Road Bridge.

[129] Swinney stated that it was "clear the severity of Storm Éowyn will continue into next week and this will have an impact on the speed at which utilities and local services can fully resume".

[131] In May 2024, during an interview with Sky News, Swinney claimed that he believed that Scotland could become independent "in the next five years" as a consequence of Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

[134] The marriage was subsequently annulled by the Roman Rota in order that Swinney be allowed to marry in the Catholic Church, to which his second wife belongs.