SNP leadership: Have Humza Yousaf's opponents made a terrible mistake by ousting him for John Swinney? - Euan McColm

Humza Yousaf’s opponents may have made a serious tactical error by ousting him too soon, writes Euan McColm

By the standards of contemporary Scottish politics, John Swinney is a very good orator.

He’s at his best when switched to “calm and reassuring” mode and this came in very useful as he announced his decision to stand for the SNP leadership in Edinburgh on Thursday morning.

Swinney was open about the extent of his party’s difficulties and said many of the right things about addressing voters’ priorities.

Kate Forbes (left) and John Swinney (right) attend the motion of no confidence vote in the Scottish Government on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

There was a misstep when he refused to give a straight answer to the question of whether a trans woman was a woman. Politicians may think they can bat this away as a “gotcha” question, but no matter how distasteful they may find it, it is not – in light of the ongoing row over reform of the Gender Recognition Act – going to go away.

His answer to another question, a pretty brutal one at that, however was exemplary. Swinney was reminded by a journalist about remarks made earlier this week by the pollster Professor Sir John Curtice, who said he had not been a good leader during his first spell at the top of the SNP.

Maybe, Swinney replied, he should have sent Curtice a Christmas card. Then he laughed and very skilfully turned a difficult question into the prefect opportunity to talk himself up.

Swinney spun a yarn about a “correspondent” who had messaged him, urging him to stand. This person remembered his first period in charge between 2000-04 and noted not only that the SNP had changed considerably since then, but that Swinney had, too.

And then Swinney spoke about the value of experience. He had changed, he said, he was stronger. And he sounded pretty convincing.

Swinney is, without question, a more substantial politician that Humza Yousaf. When Swinney was ousted in 2004, members of warring factions in the SNP looked, together, into the abyss. If they didn’t get their acts together, they were going to end up a perpetual irrelevance, winning a handful of seats at Holyrood.

And those factions downed weapons and united to create a winning political machine.

Had opposition parties left Yousaf in power, they could have spent the next two years enjoying his inability to unite a warring party. They could have watched him squirm and blink through each new development in the police investigation into SNP finances, and they could have thanked him kindly for his help as they carved up government jobs.

I wonder if, perhaps, the opposition parties might have nudged SNP members back to the edge of the abyss.

The SNP’s troubles are, perhaps, currently so deep and complex that it simply needs to hit rock bottom before it can begin to repair itself. But perhaps the decline can be slowed.

One thing’s for certain, Yousaf was a man out of his depth whose leadership harmed the reputation of his party and the independence movement every day.

Opposition parties are currently celebrating deposing Humza Yousaf but, listening to John Swinney – a wily old dog with a decent line in sincerity – yesterday morning, might some of them now be wondering whether they've just made a terrible mistake?