Deputy First Minister John Swinney has announced that he is leaving the Scottish Government after nearly 16 years.
He will stand down as Deputy First Minister once a new First Minister is appointed later this month and he says he will return to the backbenches.
He is the longest serving Deputy First Minister on record, having held the post for almost nine years, and also served as Education Secretary and two tenures as Finance Secretary, latterly in an interim role.
In a letter to First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Swinney said it has been an “honour to serve Scotland” and that he has always sought “to transform the life chances of everyone”.
In her reply, the First Minister pays tribute to Mr Swinney’s “deep care and attention to the wellbeing of our nation” and says she could not have wished for a better “partner in government”.
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