John Swinney has made clear he has “no intention” of reshuffling his cabinet team at Holyrood, despite a number of key figures in his government stepping down at next May’s Scottish elections.
More than 20 SNP MSPs are set to leave Holyrood when voters north of the border go to the poll next year.
Mr Swinney’s deputy First Minister Kate Forbes is among them, along with Finance Secretary Shona Robison, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon.
However, Mr Swinney made clear he has no plans to reshape his top team in the light of the planned departures.
Speaking at an event in Edinburgh organised by the think tank Enlighten, Mr Swinney said: “I have no intention of reshuffling my team before the election.”
While he spoke about his “regret” about fellow MSPs leaving Holyrood, including “close colleagues, friends and confidantes”, he said he had reshuffled his cabinet team after government minister Mairi McAllan returned to work earlier this year following her maternity leave.
She was given the newly created post of housing secretary, with Mr Swinney tasking her with tackling the housing “emergency” in Scotland.
Asked if the impending departure of senior members of his government would bring about a reshuffle ahead of May’s Scottish elections, the SNP leader said he had “decided, actively and purposefully” that he had people in his cabinet with “experience and expertise in a number of roles that would help me to deliver to government’s programme before the election”.
And he argued that if he was to “put in a whole host of new faces” then “it would take a while to get things back up to the level of delivery”
So he insisted: “I have no plans to reshuffle the government.”
His comments came as he spoke of his “regret” over SNP MSPs leaving Holyrood, with the First Minister saying he “very much” regretted Ms Forbes’ decision to quit the Scottish Parliament.
She announced earlier this month she would not be running for election next year, saying she did not want to “miss any more of the precious early years of family life”.
Meanwhile, former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf are also stepping down.
Mr Swinney said: “Some of my colleagues are stepping down because they have done a very long shift.”
While he said he was the “longest serving” parliamentarian at Holyrood, having been first voted in as an MP 28 years ago before being elected as an MSP in the first devolved elections, he noted a number of those quitting had also been first elected in 1999.
However, he added some MSPs were leaving because of the “tough” nature of politics.
“We have to acknowledge that for many, I think particularly younger women, the climate is horrendous,” Mr Swinney said.
He continued: “The social media endurance is hard to bear for some people, and it makes public service look frankly unattractive at times.”
In these circumstances, he said, he tries to “support my colleagues, understand and be an ally”.
But the SNP leader added: “Ultimately, I can not protect people from what is thrown at them, and some of the behaviours are appalling, so that affects a number of people as well.”
