It’s not been First Minister John Swinney’s year. Not only did his Westminster group fail fantastically at the July poll to cling onto their seats, now the SNP leader has found out he backed the wrong horse at the US election. Talk about a bad bet!
Last month, Swinney lent his support to Kamala, telling Scottish voters:
People in the United States of America should vote for Kamala Harris, and I have not come to that conclusion only because Donald Trump is opposed to Scottish independence.
And with today’s result comes criticism of the First Minister’s decision to wade into the matter at all. Stewart McDonald, former SNP defence spokesperson, said that the Trump win was ‘another wake-up call for Europe and the UK when it comes to defence and security’, adding:
The Scottish government should think seriously about how it can add to this… What this election shows is the folly of ministers and other elected parliamentarians publicly endorsing one candidate over another, as these things can come back and haunt you. The government needs to be more hard-headed in its approach to foreign relations.
Former SNP health secretary Alex Neil told Steerpike: ‘It’s not always wise for a foreign head of government to make adverse comments about candidates in another country’s elections’. A senior SNP figure also told the Times that Swinney’s endorsement was ‘f***ing stupid’, while another Nat remarked to Mr S: ‘The First Minister should focus on his own country before he looks anywhere else!’ Straight to the point…
It comes after Trump spoke last week on the constitutional question, proclaiming: ‘I hope it stays together. I hope it always stays together.’ Meanwhile, a Norstat poll for the Times revealed that of all the countries in western Europe, Scotland had the most Trump supporters – with a quarter of Scots backing the president-elect for the win. And Spectator subscribers were also on the money, with 55 per cent predicting a Trump victory. It’s certainly not the first time the SNP administration has been caught out of the loop, eh?
Comments