Russell Findlay: SNP’s gender obsession must follow Nicola Sturgeon out the door

John Swinney is carrying on Nicola Sturgeon’s "toxic agenda" on sex and gender, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has said.

He said the Scottish Government's continued backing of gender self-identification "should follow [Sturgeon] out the door".

But Swinney said he was "proud" of what the government had achieved under Sturgeon and accused the Tories of pursuing "toxic personality politics".

The exchange at First Minister's Questions follows Sturgeon confirming yesterday that she would not seek re-election in 2026.

She will stand down at the end of the parliamentary term next year, having sat on the backbenches in the two years since she stepped down as first minister. 

Findlay raised her record in government on Thursday afternoon, asking what her "biggest failure in office" was.

He said she had "failed Scotland" and described Swinney as "yesterday's man standing by yesterday's woman".

He went on to accuse her of sowing division on both the constitution and question of sex and gender, as well as criticising the government's failure to close the attainment gap.

Sturgeon infamously asked to be judged on her record on education, pledging to “substantially close” the attainment gap by 2026.

She also spearheaded the government's attempt to reform the Gender Recognition Act to allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate via self-identification, a contentious debate which was met with backlash by women concerned about the impact on equalities and same-sex spaces.

Findlay said: “For years, the SNP government was distracted by this fringe obsession. Nicola Sturgeon focused on they/them instead of improving public services for everyone. Now she’s heading for the exit, but John Swinney is sticking with her toxic agenda. Now that Nicola Sturgeon is quitting, shouldn’t the SNP’s gender obsession follow her out the door?”

The first minister said the Conservatives were "only interested in running down" the Scottish Parliament.

He said: “There was not a single suggestion of how Scotland could be improved in that question – not a single example of how the Conservatives, after inflicting 14 years of austerity on this country, of busting the public finances with that stupid and reckless budget that Liz Truss presided over that Russell Findlay wanted me to emulate, not a single suggestion of how to improve Scotland for the better.

“I think the more the people of Scotland look at the Scottish Conservatives, the more they will see a party that is toxic in everything that it says, that is only interested in running down this institution, that is a direct threat to Scottish self-governance.”

 He also defended his government's record on education, pointing to a smaller attainment gap among primary school pupils and more 18-year-olds from deprived backgrounds going to university.

Elsewhere at FMQs, Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar called for the Scottish Government to better support the defence industry.

He said the recent announcements by the UK government on defence spending could disproportionately benefit the Scotland, but the sector was struggling to find people with the right skills.

He also criticised the SNP's opposition to Trident, saying the policy “makes us less safe and less secure”. 

Swinney said his government "invests heavily" in the country's manufacturing capability.

He backed more investment in conventional defence over the nuclear deterrent to deal with Russian aggression.