One year to go until the Scottish Parliament election

Thank you Mairi for that kind introduction.

You are such a valued member of the SNP family, and it has been wonderful to hear how well your own family is doing.

And to my dear friend Keith, your SNP family are so full of love and admiration for you right now.

I’ve been over in Hamilton a lot in the last few weeks to support our fantastic candidate Katy Loudon, and I’ve lost count of how many people have spoken to me of Christina with such deep affection.

Friends, there is no better tribute that we can pay to our dear colleague Christina McKelvie than campaigning to honour her legacy, to win in her beloved Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, and fulfil her dream of an independent Scotland.

Friends,

It’s hard to believe a year has passed since I became Scotland’s First Minister.

A week may well be a long time in politics, but paradoxically the last 52 weeks have flown by in no time at all.

Every moment has been an absolute privilege to serve Scotland.

When I joined the SNP as a teenager, it was in the midst of economic turmoil, a cost of living crisis and huge global uncertainty.

But I looked around me, and I was convinced that Scotland had the talented people and the immense resources to face those obstacles head-on.

The world of 2025 feels very uncertain too – and times are really tough for a lot of people.

But do you know what?

I am not fazed by the challenges in front of us.

What I believed back then, I am more convinced than ever
Scotland has what it takes to be a successful independent country.

When I look back over my first twelve months as First Minister …

When I think of all the truly inspirational people around Scotland I have been so lucky to meet….

…The entrepreneurs, the carers, the innovators, the problem-solvers, the educators and the community activists…

…I know that there is nothing wrong with Scotland that cannot be fixed by what is right in Scotland.

Today we are here to discuss how we move forward as a nation.

In exactly a year’s time, people will be going to the polls in a crucial Scottish Parliament election.

And friends, with your help I intend to bring Scotland together
I want to us to unite around a shared vision and a common purpose.

A determination to build a Scotland where we can all feel at home.

Where no child is left behind.

And where everyone can reach their potential.

Friends,

We know that when the SNP does well, Scotland does well

So let us resolve today – in 2026, the SNP are going to win for Scotland.

I want to start today with a big thank you – to all of you.

Over these last few months, we have rolled up our sleeves and worked harder than ever for the country we serve.

Our MSPs, our MPs, our Councillors, our activists and our fantastic candidates here with us today – all of us are putting our shoulder to the wheel.

We have come together, and we are getting back to what we do best – delivering for the people of Scotland

And thanks to all your hard work, the SNP is back on the front foot.

So friends, let us build on that momentum.

Let us redouble our efforts to work together, each and every day, to make Scotland the better country we know it can be.

We are winning back the trust of the people of Scotland because we are showing them that we are truly focussed on their priorities.

People tell us they are worried about the cost of living – and we are listening.

South of the border, Labour are charging people for university tuition and many other public services. The SNP are guaranteeing to keep them free in Scotland.

That is the SNP – delivering for Scotland.

Pensioners are telling us that they are worried about how they’ll heat their homes this winter – and the SNP are listening.

Labour may not think older people deserve support during a cost of living crisis, but we do.

Pensioners were betrayed by Labour.

But under the SNP, every single pensioner in Scotland will receive a winter fuel payment this year.

That is the SNP – delivering for Scotland.

And friends, commuters tell us the cost of rail travel is still a real issue for them – and we are listening.

In this cost of living crisis, people in Scotland rightly expect their government to step up.

So we have looked again at the issue of rail fares.

And the SNP are scrapping peak rail fares for good.

That is the SNP – delivering for Scotland.

And friends, people are telling us they are struggling to access the NHS or get appointments with their GP – and we are listening.

We’re investing, we’re rolling out new technology and we’re expanding specialist regional centres.

Over the last year, there have been dramatic falls in some of the longest waits, as well as a 50% increase in surgical procedures such as hip and knee replacements.

Just yesterday, I announced the delivery of an extra 100,000 appointments in GP surgeries and 150,000 additional appointments and procedures in our hospitals to reduce waiting times.

That is the SNP  – delivering for Scotland.

And friends, people tell us they want every child in Scotland to get the best start in life – and the SNP is listening.

Under our watch, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling.

Where other governments are stepping back, the SNP is stepping up.

Our Scottish Child Payment is still unique in these islands. Labour have chosen not to replicate it.

And while Labour refuse to scrap the morally unjustifiable two-child cap, the SNP will step up once again.

We will scrap this cap and keep thousands more children out of poverty

That is the SNP – delivering for Scotland.

Friends,

We have more to do, but the SNP is fully focused on the people’s priorities.

In a year’s time, when the people of Scotland choose their next government, we will earn their trust by showing them a record of delivery.

In that election, Labour will be standing on their record too.

Don’t worry – I’ll make sure of it!

Like everyone else I was delighted to see the back of the Tories, and I felt more positive when Keir Starmer took office.

I have done everything I can to work constructively with the new Labour government in the interests of Scotland.

People in Scotland put their trust in Labour last year – but time and time again, Labour has let them down.

Pensioners – stripped of their winter fuel payment.

Households – forced to pay higher energy bills

Businesses – slapped with Labour’s jobs tax.

Families – left with no end in sight to cruel Tory welfare policies.

WASPI women – promised compensation but given nothing.

Friends,

Over the last year, the SNP has been doing what we do best – standing up for Scotland.

Labour have been doing what they do best as well – taking Scotland for granted.

And in the election next year, be in no doubt – Labour will have to answer for their broken promises.

Friends,

For as long as Scotland is under Westminster control, people are entitled to expect that Westminster will give them the same focus as any other part of the UK.

But here is what Labour deliver.

They have bent over backwards to support two carbon capture sites in England, but failed to fund the Acorn project in Scotland.

They’re saving jobs at Scunthorpe while abandoning workers at Grangemouth.

They’re happy to take Scotland’s energy wealth but refusing to cut our energy bills.

Labour or Tories, it’s the same old story.

For Westminster, Scotland is always an afterthought.

For the SNP, Scotland will always come first.

Friends,

If you want to know what happens when governments do not deliver for people, look no further than last week’s local election results south of the border.

An ill wind of change is blowing through UK politics, and after last week it is no longer fanciful to suggest that Nigel Farage could be Prime Minister in a few years.

This should be a wake-up call for people across Scotland – but certainly not a surprise.

Keir Starmer and the Labour party have opened the door to Farage.

Beacause they have failed to stand up to him.

Dancing to Farage’s tune on immigration

Too scared to admit Brexit has been a disaster.

And alienating communities in England by maintaining Tory austerity cuts.

That’s what you get with Labour

At Westminster, Nigel Farage may not be in office – but he is very much in power.

You don’t beat populists by imitating them.

You beat them by confronting them.

We will never do any deals with Farage.

Only the SNP will confront Farage and defeat Farage.

It’s often said that the past is a foreign country.

Well after last week, I think for people in Scotland, the future of the UK is looking increasingly unrecognisable.

Now more than ever, it falls on the SNP to offer a brighter future.

I’ve believed for my whole life that the path to that brighter future for Scotland is reached by becoming an independent nation.

And I’ve always known that we will become independent when a clear majority of people gets behind a common vision for our country’s future.

Our task – as the party that will guide Scotland to independence – is to create the conditions where that can happen.

That means getting all of our ducks in a row – and friends, we are doing that.

When I became SNP Leader, I said we needed to come back together as a movement

And we have.

I said we needed to stay true to our values.

And we are.

I said we needed to earn the right to be heard.

And through our hard work, we are earning that right.

Because we are delivering on Scotland’s priorities.

And by delivering for people in the here and now, they are more open to receiving our message of hope for Scotland’s future.

Over the next twelve months, we must deliver our message as far and wide as possible.

Westminster has scarcely looked more distant from the people of Scotland and their everyday concerns.

For years, Labour told people in Scotland that they didn’t need independence – we just needed to get rid of the Tories and everything will change.

No wonder so many people are feeling disaffected and alienated right now.

The choice is to accept things as they are, or to act differently.

What surer way to tackle alienation than with the overwhelming sense of empowerment of becoming an independent nation which is ours to create?

We can build a winning coalition for independence by showing people what that empowerment can lead to.

The Scotland I want to build is an enterprising, outward-looking and compassionate Scotland – which will flourish with the powers of independence.

An enterprising nation – which understands that the prosperity of our country rests on ensuring the prosperity of every single one of our citizens.

An outward-looking nation – where we give to the world everything we can offer, just as we seek from the world everything it can offer us.

Where we take our rightful place at the top table of Europe.

And which looks at the global challenges of the age, such as the climate emergency, and asks not “how can we avoid responsibility?” but instead asks “what can we do to help?”

And a compassionate nation – which sees human rights – including LGBTQI+ rights – not as something to denigrate, but as the bedrock of a society where everyone feels safe and accepted.

One which doesn’t balance its books on the backs of pensioners, the poor and disabled people – but values them as ourselves, our friends, our family, our neighbours – cherished members of our society.

That is the Scotland we should aspire to – and that is the Scotland I want to create.

Friends,

All of us are here today because fundamentally we believe in something better.

Even in these uncertain times, we know – beyond any doubt – that Scotland has what it takes to be a thriving successful independent nation.

Over the next 12 months, our ambition must be to unite as many people as possible behind our vision.

We must reach people from all walks of life, in every corner of Scotland.

We must build a winning coalition that is as broad as it is high.

A year today, I don’t just want to win – I want us to shift the tectonic plates of Scottish politics and create a wave of hope that will overcome Westminster’s wall of despair.

Friends, we are back on the front foot – so let us take the next steps together.

When Westminster lets Scotland down, let us lift Scotland up.

When others seek to divide, let us unite.

While others tell people in Scotland that they can’t, let us show them how they can.

The campaign for Scotland’s future starts today.

So let us get out there and let us win that better future for Scotland.

Thank you.