SCOTS URGED TO HALT FM'S BID FOR 10 MORE YEARS

Voters urged to act as Swinney reveals he is planning to stand in 2031 polls

- BY DOUGLAS DICKIE

SCOTS have been told to embrace the chance to wreck John Swinney's plans to stick around at Holyrood for another 10 YEARS.

Voters face the scenario of the SNP leader being first minister until 2036 after he revealed he wants to stand again in 2031.

He was initially seen as a stopgap appointment when he took over from Humza Yousaf in May 2024, having previously endured a miserable time as party leader in

in the early 2000s. But while he has failed to inspire voters, he has steadied the Nat ship and is likely to win next year's Scottish Parliamentary election, albeit with a far smaller share of the vote.

Mr Swinney, 61, said he would serve the full term as First Minister if re-elected in May before standing again in 2031.

It raises the prospect of a Swinney premiership stretching to 2036, by which time he will be in his early 70s.

In an interview he said: "My aspiration is to be a long-term political leader, so I would expect to be standing in 2031 as well." But Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden accused Mr Swinney of being "desperate to cling onto power so he can achieve his lifelong dream of breaking up the United Kingdom".