Swinney can ‘realign’ SNP so it can take on Labour, insists Flynn

The Westminster leader was speaking as the SNP conference begins with a focus on a general election result which saw it win only nine seats.

Stephen Flynn said the SNP can come together under John Swinney to be ready to fight the 2026 Holyrood election (PA) (PA Wire)

The SNP can “realign” under John Swinney’s leadership so it is ready to take on Labour at the next Holyrood election, the party’s Westminster leader has insisted.

Stephen Flynn is one of just nine SNP MPs who were returned to the Commons after this summer’s general election – with the party losing the majority of the 48 seats it won in 2019.

He blamed the performance in part on a “breakdown in trust” between voters and the party.

With the SNP the subject of an ongoing police investigation into its finances, Mr Flynn also said some issues “have engulfed the SNP in recent times, which undoubtedly put the public off” voting for it.

He was speaking as the SNP conference – which will be Mr Swinney’s first since taking over as leader – begins with an internal session examining what went wrong for the SNP in the July election.

Mr Flynn told BBC Radio Scotland on Friday morning that the conference is a “good opportunity for the party to come together and have a pretty open and a robust and frank discussion about what happened”.

Speaking about the election result, he referenced the “breakdown in trust” which had “quite clearly been eroded over a period of time”.

He added: “I think that has happened because of the priorities we have had, but also because of our delivery, but also some of the actions which have engulfed the SNP in recent times, which undoubtedly put the public off.”

He complained that at a time of a cost-of-living crisis, the public had seen the Scottish Government spending time “arguing with the UK Government” over “bottle banks” for the scrapped deposit return scheme.

“That for them isn’t going to align with what they see as a priority for them at that moment in time,” Mr Flynn said.

I’ve got absolute confidence that under John’s leadership, in the course of the next 18 months we can realign ourselves into a position where we are able to take on the Labour Party

Stephen Flynn

“Where we must end up is talking again about the public’s priorities and refocusing again on that narrative of change.”

He also stressed the need to hold Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his new Labour Government to account.

Mr Flynn said: “What they are now promising is not change, in fact they are saying things are going to get worse, even worse than what they are at the moment.”

He likened that to the situation under the Tories when David Cameron was prime minister and George Osborne his chancellor.

Mr Flynn added: “We now have a Labour Government that are putting in place austerity, we’ve got to make difficult decisions, but while we are doing that we are going to focus on the public’s priorities and hopefully make sure the public services they rely on are protected.”

He claimed Labour ministers are “trying to have their cake and eat it”, adding: “Whilst doing so they’re not being honest with the public about the scale of the challenges and who has ownership of some of the responsibility for that.”

Speaking about the financial pressures facing the SNP Government at Holyrood, he made plain: “The seriousness of the situation we face is stark. We know that public finances in Scotland are stretched, potentially like never before in devolution.

“And we know that worse is coming down the road, because that is what the Labour Government has said to us.”

However he insisted the First Minister and his Cabinet “could not be more experienced in terms of dealing with the challenges that is going to be facing the Scottish public sector and the wider Scottish economy over the coming year”.

He continued: “They are precisely the people you want in those roles because they have that knowledge, that experience and that wisdom of how to make sure that public services are delivering the way the public expect them to be delivered.

“Within that envelope there is nobody better placed than John Swinney. He has been a man of service in Scottish public life for so long now that he knows what is possible, what isn’t possible, but most importantly how to deliver upon it.

“I’ve got absolute confidence that under John’s leadership, in the course of the next 18 months we can realign ourselves into a position where we are able to take on the Labour Party, where we can stand against the austerity agenda which this Labour Government is putting in place and protect the public services the public want and value so much.”