Now that Humza Yousaf has announced he is to step down as First Minister of Scotland and SNP leader the race is on to find his successor.
One of the favourites to take on the job is John Swinney, who previously led the SNP from 2000-2004, before serving as Deputy First Minister under Nicola Sturgeon from 2007-2023.
If he does decide to throw his hat in the ring - and is elected - he’ll be leading his party against a very different political backdrop than when he previously did so two decades ago.
It was the year when Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, Athens hosted the Olympic Games, NASA landed rovers on Mars, Usher’s Confessions was the biggest selling album of the year, and the most-watched television broadcast of the year was the England v Portugal game in Euro 2004.
Meanwhile, these were the political leaders in charge of governments, cities, countries and parties.
1. UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair still had three years of being the UK Prime Minister ahead of him in 2004. He served from 1997 to 2007, making him the second longest serving post-war PM after Margaret Thatcher. The Fettes-educated politician announced he would stand down on September 7, 2006, after being accused of misleading Parliament over the Iraq War and handed the reigns to his long-time Chancellor Gordon Brown.
2. Conservative Party Leader
Michael Howard was leader of the Conservative Party- and Leader of the Opposition - in 2004. He was a relatively short-lived leader, serving from November 2003 to December 2005 having previously been Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State for the Environment and Home Secretary. He stood down after losing to Tony Blair in the 2005 election and later entered the House of Lords as Baron Howard of Lympne.
3. Liberal Democrat Party Leader
The much-missed Charles Kennedy was the leader of the Liberal Democrats in 2004, having been elected to the position in 1999. The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber resigned at leader in 2006 after admitting he had received treatment for alcoholism and was succeeded by fellow Scot Menzie Campbell. As a backbencher he voted against the Cameron-Clegg coalition that would prove to be catastrophic for his party. He died less than a month after losing his seat in the House of Commons in 2015.
4. Mayor of London
2004 saw Labour's Ken Livingston voted in as London Mayor for the second time - he won in 2000 as an independent candidate. Four years later he would lose a third election to Boris Johnson. He was suspended from the Labour Party in 2016 after making comments about the relationshop between Adolf Hitler and Zionism, ultimately resigning from the party in 2018.