Politician and First Minister of Scotland. Born in Edinburgh, Swinney was educated at Forrester High School before reading politics at the University of Edinburgh. He began is career in management consultancy. He joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1979 and became a prominent figure in the party's youth wing, rising within the party to become its National Secretary in 1986. He was elected as Member of the Westminster Parliament (MP) for the Tayside North in 1997 and was elected for the same constituency to the newly-established Scottish Parliament two years later. In 2001 he resigned from Westminster to concentrate on his position in Holyrood. He served as Leader of the SNP (2000-04) and then, when the SNP took power, as Deputy First Minister (2014-23), Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (2016-21), Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery (2021-23), Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy (2022-23) and in 2024 was again elected Leader of his party but now he also became First Minister, following the resignation of Humza Yousaf (b. 1985).
Swinney lives in Blairgowrie.
