Deputy First Minister John Swinney will not enter the race to become first minister and leader of the SNP, he has announced.
Mr Swinney, who has been in the Scottish Parliament since 1999 and served as leader between 2000 and 2004, said the decision not to run came after he “thought carefully” about if he should stand and had to be sure what he did was “right for my family, the Scottish National Party and our country”.
The politician, who has also represented North Tayside in Westminster, said: “For the best part of the last 40 years, I have had the privilege of being at the very heart of formulating the strategy of the SNP.
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