STEPHEN DAISLEY'S SKETCH: Yes, the SNP is a big tent… it just happens to be a ... trends now
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To Glasgow University, where John Swinney delivered a victory speech somewhat dampened by the absence of a victory.
The former deputy first minister secured the party leadership role after a fringe activist was persuaded not to launch a rival bid.
Whether this persuasion involved the appearance of a horse’s head in the man’s bed, we may never know.
Swinney attempted to spin this as a positive. ‘The fact I’m the only candidate demonstrates that the SNP is coming back together again now,’ he informed a sceptical press pack.
Or it demonstrates that what the rank and file actually believe must be kept as far from voters’ ears as possible.
He assured his audience that Humza Yousaf would ‘continue to make a substantial contribution to the public life of Scotland’, though it sounded more like a threat than an assurance.
Evasions:John Swinney makes his speech in Glasgow, but it was not so much of a new dawn as a pair of old hands cracking their knuckles
Swinney waxed: ‘Our party must continue and will continue to be a light. We must continue to illuminate hope, fight for international justice and be willing to stand up for what we believe to be right.’
A little bit of perspective, please. It’s the SNP, not Doctors Without Borders.
Before a modest assemblage of the more presentable Nats, Swinney reflected on the events of recent weeks. Things, he allowed, had ‘turned out differently’ to what was expected a year ago when Humza Yousaf took over the reins.
Indeed. Mistakes were made. Coalitions were broken. Governments were tanked.
Swinney lamented ‘the polarisation of politics’, which he said ‘does not serve our country well’. One person it did
