John Swinney was speaking at an event with actor Martin Compston.
John Swinney has revealed details of the late-night conversation with his wife that led to him becoming First Minister in 2024, saying she told him: “You know what you’ve got to do.”
Appearing at an onstage event with actor Martin Compston on Friday, Mr Swinney said news of Humza Yousaf’s resignation had broken while he was away at a conference in London.
The SNP leader recalled he had been due to give a speech about the first 25 years of the Scottish Parliament – and that before leaving, his wife Elizabeth Quigley had told him it was “exactly the right thing you need to be doing”.
Mr Swinney told the audience at Port Glasgow Town Hall in Inverclyde that he had been “really pleased” with the speech he was going to give.
“I had worked on it myself. I was absolutely delighted with all I had to say, and I went away, got a train to London,” he said.
“I was just about to go to bed, and I got a phone call to say that it was probable that Humza Yousaf was going to resign the following morning.”
Mr Swinney said by this time he knew his wife would be in bed at their home in Perthshire, so he decided to discuss the news with her in the morning.
He went on: “In the morning, all the speculation was out, and I was appearing in front of the cameras.
“My wife was sitting at home thinking she had just sent her husband off for this nice calm trip to London.
“And then she sees me on the telly saying I’m going to have to speak to my family about what I’m going to do.”
Mr Swinney told the audience he was in “public places” for the whole of the next day and so was unable to speak to his wife properly until he got home to Perthshire.
“I got home about midnight and the house was in darkness, and I knew Elizabeth would have been in her bed ages before I got home,” he said.
“I crept into bed, pitch black, lay down on the bed, and this voice says ‘Well?’
“And I said, ‘What do you think?’”
Mr Swinney told the audience it is well known his wife has multiple sclerosis (MS), and that “she needs her sleep”.
He continued: “And here she is at 12 o’clock engaged in a full discussion with her husband about his next political move.”
Mr Swinney recalled that during the conversation his wife had said something he described as “the most generous thing a spouse can say to you”.
“She said, ‘You know what you’ve got to do’ – and that was essentially permission for me to do this.”
The audience then applauded when Mr Swinney paid tribute to his wife for having sacrificed “one heck of a lot” to enable him to do the job of First Minister – adding “it’s not just about me”.
