Swinney's turnaround has been remarkable.. but victory for the SNP is far from certain

JOHN Swinney will arrive at his party conference after taking the SNP from the political gutter to the cusp of an incredible fifth term in office.

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He took over from Humza Yousaf last year and found himself fighting a hellishly difficult general election within weeks.

The campaign saw the SNP fall from 48 MPs to nine. Swinney had feared privately that the mauling would be worse.

One of Swinney's closest allies said the new leader was “astonished” at the state of SNP headquarters during the campaign and in the aftermath.

“HQ was bust, fundamentally broken," they said. “The party was struggling to do the basics like put out a manifesto.”

The insider said Swinney had many “dark nights of the soul” after the election, with MSP allies Mairi McAllan, Shona Robison and Fiona Hyslop singled out for praise.