First Minister John Swinney takes part in Glasgow youth conference

John Swinney has established a comfortable lead in the polls for the SNP

The Edinburgh Economist co-editor, Bohdan Tymoshchuk interviewed First Minister John Swinney at the 'Our Future' conference in Glasgow. The topics of conference was education, discrimination, mental health, climate and poverty. Guests of the event were invited to have a dialogue about their vision on future of diverse and inclusive Scotland with each other and religious leaders.

The key moment of the afternoon was a speech by the First Minister, who spoke of the importance of keeping dialogue alive during turbulent times we live in and be tolerant to opinion of each other. The Edinburgh Economist editorial team had a chance to catch the First Minister for few questions about the upcoming Holyrood election, the issues affecting young people and his thoughts on student visas issue in Scotland:

According to latest opinion poll by Ipsos, the SNP is still leading in the polls for upcoming elections in May with 35% of the constituency vote share – although this is significantly weaker than the 47.7% the party achieved at the last Holyrood election in 2021.

First Minister John Swinney is also leading in approval ratings for individual party leaders in Scotland, with 35% of voters satisfied with his performance and 49% are dissatisfied.

Opposition parties to the SNP such as Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives argue that the SNP were elected on a promise to make Scotland stronger, but that after 19 years in power, Scotland is weaker under the SNP.

Emily Gray, managing director of Ipsos in Scotland, said:

“Five months out from the next Holyrood elections, these new results show the SNP out in front and holding onto their core voters more successfully than other parties – although with a lower share of the vote than the party achieved at the last Scottish Parliament elections."