Russell Findlay: We have one year to get the SNP out👇

Or read Russell Findlay’s full speech below:

One year from now, people across Scotland face an important choice about the direction of our country.

But before I speak about the 2026 election, let me talk about our obligation towards those who voted in the last election, in 2021.

No matter which party people picked, they expected MSPs they elected would act on their behalf and get things done.

They expected the NHS to recover post-Covid and waiting lists to shrink.

They expected more teachers and improved school standards.

They expected a growing economy with new jobs and opportunities.

People didn’t expect miracles.

But they did expect – and were entitled to – some progress, some improvements.

Since the 2021 election, the Scottish Parliament has achieved next to nothing.

Holyrood has failed to deliver.

It promises so much and achieves so little.

It’s a truth that MSPs of all parties don’t care to admit …

But mutual back-slapping and parliamentary grandstanding doesn’t change the reality.

Parliament’s failure to deliver has further eroded public trust in politicians.

The SNP think they can make and break promises with impunity.

They take voters for granted.

They believe they can say and do anything they want … arrogant in the belief they will suffer no consequences.

But there is one serious consequence.

And that is the deepening divide between the public and politicians.

People say politicians are all the same.

They say that nothing will ever change.

John Swinney tries to claim he’s done a good job.

But he’s not being honest with himself or the public.

Ask yourself these questions:

Can you get a GP appointment faster?

Are standards rising at your local school?

Are your bills lower?

For most people, the answers are NO.

NHS waiting lists grow … schools get worse … bills keep going up.

You pay more but get less.

As I said to the First Minister yesterday in response to his Programme for Government, things must change.

We have a duty to the public over the coming 12 months.

Every promise must be kept.

Parliament’s focus has to be on what really matters.

MSPs can’t squander the next 365 days.

They must work constructively on what is truly important.

There is surely a majority at Holyrood willing to deliver tangible progress for mainstream Scotland.

MSPs must demand better value for money for taxpayers.

Respect public money as if it was their own.

Bills must come down for businesses and families.

Roads need to be fixed.

When people phone a GP, they need to be able to get an appointment.

Schools need to be safe places of learning.

I call on MSPs to agree that those priorities deserve our collective attention.

I hope there can be a majority for action.

The Scottish Parliament should strive for a common purpose of delivery.

Which makes John Swinney’s Programme for Government so disappointing.

It’s not bold or ambitious. It’s not a plan for a stronger Scotland.

It is another example of SNP dishonesty and spin.

It continues taking us down a path to a weaker Scotland.

What a wasted opportunity from a politician who has run out of ideas.

Having trashed Scottish education, the SNP is now targeting our traditional exam system.

They say they’re abandoning what they describe as “high-stakes exams”.

What they mean is that they will lower standards … and then call it ‘progress’.

Lowering the bar is not the way to help pupils. It is a depression on incentive.

John Swinney’s other idea is to create a ‘Centre for Teaching Excellence’.

Is that not what schools are supposed to be?

Scottish schools were centres for teaching excellence … until the SNP came along.

Instead of putting more teachers into classrooms, they’re creating yet another public-sector talking shop.

John Swinney has a shameful record of wasting taxpayers’ money.

So we should not be surprised that his Programme for Government promises to waste more cash on his obsession with breaking up our country.

He will commission a taxpayer-funded report to build an economic case for independence.

Spoiler alert John, there isn’t one.

Another waste of cash that will benefit nobody.

It won’t create jobs, reduce waiting lists or improve schools.

And it doesn’t end there.

Have you heard about John Swinney’s brand-new service for asylum seekers?

It will allow asylum seekers to “access the support they need when they need it”.

We’ve done some research which found that the new service could even help those who are in this country illegally.

Our research has also found that John Swinney will fund his new service with £14.4million of your money.

He will give asylum seekers, some who are here illegally, the support they need. So why can’t he do that for people who live here now?

Scots who work hard, pay their taxes and contribute to their communities.

How can spending almost £15million on a new service for asylum seekers be a priority for any responsible government?

The Programme for Government confirms the SNP’s wrong priorities.

With John Swinney offering more of the same.

A typical SNP politician who’s not focused on the day job of improving people’s lives.

My focus is clear.

My party will dedicate itself over the coming 12 months to the common purpose that MSPs should all agree on.

A unity of purpose that the Scottish Parliament should share.

Of working to fix the NHS by dedicating resources to the frontline.

Of repairing our education system; putting knowledge back at the heart of the curriculum.

Of unleashing Scotland’s economic potential; helping bring down bills and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Of getting the country back on track.

By showing those who feel disconnected from the Scottish Parliament that we can deliver the change they want to see.

That’s what the public really wants.

No more nonsense.

No more wasting time on fringe obsessions.

People just want politicians to use some common sense for a change.

We’ll live up to our end of the bargain.

We’ll spend the next year focused on the hopes, needs and concerns of people across Scotland.

However, we know from John Swinney’s Programme for Government that they won’t.

The SNP’s dire record speaks for itself:

They waste time and money trying to break up our country – and will never stop.

They remain obsessed with gender politics.

They fail to focus on the issues that matter to mainstream Scotland.

Since becoming First Minister one year ago, John Swinney has been playing a game.

John Swinney tries to pretend he’s not the same John Swinney to the one who was in the SNP cabinet for almost two decades.

But he is the same old John Swinney.

The John Swinney who signed off the corrupt ferry contract.

Who let our schools slide down international league tables.

Who defended sinister state overreach in the Named Persons bill.

Who deleted his messages to hide them from the UK Covid Inquiry.

Who was in charge of education during the SQA exam scandals.

Who used every sneaky trick to cover up for the SNP during the Salmond Inquiry.

Who still can’t say what a woman is.

Who was Nicola Sturgeon’s biggest ally.

All of this – and more – was the same old John Swinney.

But I’m feeling charitable so I will give him this – he has a lot of experience …

Experience of breaking promises.

Experience of abject failure.

Experience of always putting the SNP’s narrow interests before the good of the country.

He’s become such a master in the politics of spin that some polls suggest he’s going to win the next election.

But I refuse to accept that.

Some of you may want me to talk about what happens in that scenario or other possible outcomes.

All I’ll say is this:

As a proud Scot, the thought of John Swinney’s SNP getting another five years in power keep me awake at night.

It troubles me deeply.

I worry about the damage to our economy.

I worry about SNP high taxes and hostility towards business.

I worry about what will become of farming and fishing communities.

I worry about declining standards and dangerous influences in our schools.

I worry about the lack of opportunity for young people.

I worry for everyone who needs a GP appointment or is trapped on a waiting list.

I worry for everyone in Scotland with ambition and aspiration.

If the SNP win next year, I worry for Scotland.

Our country will again be divided by nationalism, the base politics of populism.

That is why every single day, my party stands up to them as we’ve done for 18 years.

But not everyone understands that.

Not everyone is worried about an SNP win.

Nigel Farage isn’t. He’s said so himself.

He said, and this is a direct quote, he’s “not that worried about the SNP”.

Nigel Farage says he’d rather put the SNP in power at Holyrood than a pro-UK party.

He would gladly gift the SNP another five years in power.

Nigel Farage’s Reform might even back them.

I’m not surprised.

This is the party with pro-independence candidates.Reform don’t get it.

Anyone who would let the SNP into office cannot claim to be a pro-UK party.

That’s why John Swinney isn’t scared of Nigel Farage.

He is thrilled by him.

He doesn’t want to confront Reform; he wants to help them.

It’s John Swinney’s dirty little secret:

Publicly he pretends to despise them.

Privately he adores them.

If John Swinney spent as much time reforming public services as talking up Reform, Scotland might get somewhere.

But that’s too difficult for the SNP.

Nationalists always promote a political bogeyman instead of doing the hard work of good governance.

And that’s why John Swinney constantly talks up Nigel Farage’s Reform.

Because a vote for Reform is a gift to the SNP.

We saw this at the General Election, and we can see it in the polls.

Don’t believe me?

Then listen to experts like Professor John Curtice.

I don’t say this because of concerns about Reform’s impact on my party alone.

I didn’t get into politics for narrow party-political reasons.

When I think about next year, my first thought is not what will happen to my party.

It’s what will happen to my country if Nigel Farage’s Reform hands John Swinney’s SNP another 5 years in power.

That’s why the I am willing to make this guarantee about what happens after next year’s election:

My party will never back John Swinney as First Minister.

We will never back an SNP government.

We will never vote to let that happen.

If you want to know the difference between me and Nigel Farage, that’s it.

I’m here to get rid of the SNP for the good of my country.

He’s happy to let them win for the good of his party.

But beyond that, as much as you might want me to, I’m not going to talk about what happens after the election.

Because we’re focused on what needs to be done over the next 12 months.

The 2026 election result is not set in stone … just as it wasn’t in 2021.

My party is used to being written off by pollsters and pundits … and then proving them wrong.

At home and abroad, we’ve witnessed unexpected political shifts.

From Labour to Donald Trump, the fortunes of parties and politicians change rapidly.

I’m not complacent. I know the scale of the challenge.

I know it’s a lengthy process.

When I was elected, I made it clear I was determined to change my party and knew that it would take hard graft.

I know the work that my party must do to remove the nationalists from power.

I’m aware of the challenges and ready for the fight.

We’ve got an opportunity to throw a retirement party for John Swinney.

I’m confident in the direction we have to take.

You won’t catch me flip-flopping like Anas Sarwar whether on women’s rights or just about everything else.

Under my leadership, our party knows what we stand for.

We stand for common sense Conservative values.

We stand for opportunity so that everyone has the same chance to succeed.

We stand for lower taxes because you should have control over your own hard-earned money.

We stand for faster GP appointments, achieved by spending less on NHS bureaucracy and more on the frontline.

We stand for raising school standards by fixing the curriculum and cracking down on bad behaviour.

We stand for a fair justice system that works for victims, not for rapists and murderers.

We stand for a strong Scotland proudly leading a strong United Kingdom.

We stand for putting the people of Scotland first and fixing our own back yard.

That’s the choice we will put before voters:

A Scottish Conservative party focused on bringing down bills, faster GP appointments, improving schools, fixing roads, and delivering better value for money.

Or more years of the SNP raising taxes, ruining the NHS, wrecking Scottish education, cratered roads, and throwing taxpayers’ money down the drain.

My party will say what needs to be said and then get on with delivering.

It’s a choice between a party of common sense.

Or more SNP nonsense.

So to everyone who wants change in Scotland, the Scottish Conservatives are ready to represent you.

We won’t lurch to the right to confront Reform, as some commentators suggest.

We are putting forward our own positive vision.

A proud Scottish Conservative vision for a better and more prosperous Scotland.

In just one year from now, we can remove the SNP from power.

So let’s move on from this wasted era of failure and division.

I am determined to make that happen.

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