John Swinney sworn in as first minister

John Swinney has been officially sworn in as the first minister of Scotland.

The brief ceremony took place at Edinburgh’s Court of Session, having been rubber-stamped by the King.

Swinney was elected by the Scottish Parliament to become the seventh first minister yesterday.

That follows him becoming leader of the SNP on Monday without any internal competition.

The first minister will form his government later today, with cabinet posts expected to be announced mid-afternoon.

Ministerial positions will follow.

Kate Forbes, the former finance secretary who did not make a bid for the SNP leadership after conversations with Swinney last week, is to be given a “significant” role.

Any new members of government will be confirmed in a vote in parliament on Thursday.

Swinney is the fourth SNP first minister, following in the footsteps of Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.

He was previously the leader of the SNP between 2000 and 2004, but stood down amid concerns over the party’s electoral performance in the 2003 Holyrood election and 2004 European election.

After a brief spell on the backbenchers, Salmond brought Swinney back into frontline politics after the SNP entered government for the first time in 2007.

He remained at the heart of government until last year, serving in a variety of senior cabinet roles including finance and education. He was deputy first minister under Sturgeon from 2014.

He stood down from government alongside Sturgeon 13 months ago, but was encouraged to stand for the leadership of the SNP by colleagues after Yousaf’s resignation last week.