Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw dryly noted Holyrood felt “very retro” this week, as Alex Salmond made a return and John Swinney became SNP leader for a second time.
Mr Salmond’s cameo at parliament’s petitions committee comes as MSPs probe the government’s failure to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
It’s a pledge made by the SNP in 2008 while Mr Swinney was finance secretary, and the party’s inability to deliver on the promise will haunt him as he returns to government as first minister more than a decade later.
This throwback to the SNP’s yesteryears also serves as a stark reminder of Mr Swinney’s biggest challenge – becoming his own man.
As finance secretary to Mr Salmond and deputy first minister to Nicola Sturgeon, he has played a crucial role at the very top of every SNP government since 2007.
And it’s a role he mastered. As Mr Salmond’s finance chief, he was viewed as a calm, able figure who had a firm hand on the country’s balance sheet.
But it’s his relationship with Ms Sturgeon that may matter most in his first weeks and months as a resident of Bute House.
Several documentaries, more than one book and thousands of column inches have been dedicated to examining Mr Salmond’s relationship with Nicola Sturgeon.
But underexamined is her close bond with John Swinney, who was her most trusted lieutenant during her nine years as first minister.
Nicola Sturgeon: No one prouder to see John Swinney become first minister
Sources say the duo were inseparable. Of all the ministers and cabinet secretaries Ms Sturgeon appointed, it was the Perthshire North MSP she relied on most.
In congratulating him, Ms Sturgeon said that apart from his family, there would be no one prouder than her as he became First Minister.
She wrote: “I have worked closely with John Swinney for more than 30 years. He was by my side throughout my time as FM – as deputy, friend and confidante.
“He is one of the kindest and most decent people I know – and without doubt the right person to be FM in this moment, for both party and country.”
His role during Ms Sturgeon’s time as first minister is not well known, precisely because of the way he approached it publicly.
But one insider told me: “They spoke most days, probably even every day when it was very busy.
“I don’t think Nicola has said this but the impression was that during Covid, when John worked at home more often and she was working in Edinburgh, she did miss him being there physically during some of the really tough decisions.”
Mr Swinney’s reputation from his time as deputy first minister is as the “details” man, he was able to navigate both the complex machinery of government and understood the political reality in parliament.
One Holyrood insider compared Mr Swinney, perhaps unfavourably, to the late Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.
‘He never tried to outshine Nicola Sturgeon’
They said: “He knew his place and never tried to outshine Nicola. That was surprising to some people it’s what politicians do when they are secretly eyeing up the job for themselves.”
While this dutiful approach to government and public service speaks well of Mr Swinney as a man, the qualities he will require as first minister are very different.
He will quickly have to step out of his predecessor’s shadow, particularly as she deals with the personal scandal of her husband being charged as part of a police probe into the SNP’s finance.
But politically, Mr Swinney, who has no personal first ministerial mandate from voters, will have to define his style if his time as leader is not to be curtailed at the ballot box.
He has already made tackling child poverty a clear priority, and has spoken earnestly about the importance he places on the love and support of his family.
His challenge is not an easy one. During Humza Yousaf’s time at the top, he struggled to put clear blue water between himself and Ms Sturgeon, particularly as anger grew about the her government’s secrecy with the Covid-19 Inquiry.
Many assumed he was simply too afraid to criticise his former boss.
More importantly, Mr Yousaf also struggled to speak to voters. He never convinced them he had a plan to use government to make their lives better, too often writing off very real problems as “Westminster’s fault”, and was in denial about the deep divisions inside his own party.
If Mr Swinney is to be more than a caretaker overseeing the SNP’s decline, he will be studying Mr Yousaf’s 12 months in office very closely.
After 17 years of SNP dominance, he will have to demonstrate he’s a man with new ideas who is unafraid of confronting the failures of the past – even if he played a central role in the government’s responsible.
Otherwise, voters may opt for a fresh face.
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