JOHN Swinney has panned the Scottish Conservatives over their “graceless” response to Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to leave the Holyrood parliament.
The former first minister, who was both Scotland’s longest serving and the first woman to hold the role, said on Wednesday that she would step down as an MSP after 27 years at the next Scottish parliament elections.
Swinney and Holyrood’s other party leaders issued statements in response, with Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar saying Sturgeon had been “a leading figure in Scottish politics for 20 years”.
“This is a significant announcement that marks the end of an era in Scottish politics,” he added.
Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said Sturgeon’s impact on politics had been “undeniable”, while Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater said her “time leading Scotland is certainly one that she can be proud of”.
However, the Tories issued a statement through deputy leader Rachael Hamilton in which she attacked Sturgeon, saying they could “not forget the deep divisions in our country that Nicola Sturgeon created, fostered and encouraged”.
At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay opened with an attack on Sturgeon – leading to an admonition from Swinney.
Findlay asked: “What was Nicola Sturgeon's biggest failure in office?”
Responding, Swinney said: “I think Nicola Sturgeon gave very strong leadership to Scotland during some really difficult times.
“She took forward a large number of policy innovations that have made Scotland a better country than we have been in the past.
“I noticed that yesterday, and I suspect with the tone of today's exchanges, that there's a gracefulness in the response of Mr Sarwar, Mr Cole-Hamilton, Mr [Patrick] Harvie, and Miss Slater, about the service of Scotland's first female first minister and the longest serving first minister.
“And I notice that a graceless tone has been brought forward – has been jeopardised by Russell Findlay.”
During Findlay’s focus on her, Sturgeon could be seen laughing.
The Scottish Tory leader said: “John Swinney appears to have misheard my first question, or maybe he just finds it impossible to pick from Nicola Sturgeon's vast back catalogue of failure.
“So let me help him and I'll start with Scotland's once world leading education system. A system now more interested in teaching pupils about pronouns and feelings than literacy and numeracy.
“She is responsible for plummeting league table placements for Scotland, and she's responsible for failing Scotland's poorest pupils.
“She said that she would eliminate the attainment gap, but it remains as wide as the Clyde.”
Swinney said that was “not the case”.
“The poverty related attainment gap has reduced by 67% since 2009-2010 under the leadership of this government,” the SNP leader said.
Findlay then continued his attacks on the former first minister, saying: “If there's a single word, if there's a single word that defines Nicola Sturgeon and her politics, it is division.
“She pitted Scot against Scot in her obsessive attempts to break up our great country, but her fixation on gender has become just as divisive as her nationalism.
“The first ever female first minister trampled on women's rights.”
Swinney said that “Nicola Sturgeon's term in office as the first female first minister of Scotland [had been] a moment of enormous significance for the country to have experienced”.
“She led a government that introduced the Domestic Abuse Act that makes psychological domestic abuse and controlling behaviour a crime,” he went on.
“I'm proud that this government took that action to bring that legislation into this parliament.”
