Delivering for Scotland in 2026

by the SNP
Posted on
8 hours ago
5 min read

Since John Swinney took office as First Minister in May 2024, his SNP government has remained steadfastly focused on what matters most to the people of Scotland: protecting our public services from Westminster’s financial pressures, tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and aiming for sustainable economic growth.

While those obsessed with keeping Westminster control spend their time endlessly carping, the SNP in government is getting on with the job. And the results speak for themselves.

Healthcare

Healthcare is a cornerstone of our social contract, and under John Swinney’s leadership, our NHS is making real, measurable strides:

  • We have increased the numbers of nurses, midwives, GPs, and dentists across Scotland since coming to office.
  • The number of new outpatients waiting longer than 52 weeks is continuing to decrease since the pandemic backlog
  • We have already opened 11 of our planned 40 GP walk-in centres – exceeding our initial commitments – with over 10,500 people accessing care so far.

Opposition leaders love to hurl insults at Scotland’s NHS, but a look south of the border reveals the stark truth.

While Scotland works relentlessly to eliminate long waits and build capacity, the NHS in England – managed under Westminster – continues to suffer from chronic underfunding, waiting list backlogs, and deep operational crises.

While Labour, and the Tories prior to them, have and had mounting pressures in England, the SNP is delivering record cancer survival rates and expanding local GP services right here in Scotland.

Economy & Cost-of-Living

Whilst Brexit and Westminster control make the UK economic outlook challenging, Scotland’s economy is outperforming economic expectations compared to where Westminster parties are in control:

Through our Cost-of-Living Guarantee the SNP has taken a number of actions:

  • We have announced that the Scottish Child Payment will increase to £40 per week for eligible children under age one, supporting around 12,000 babies each year.

The Westminster-control parties preach economic competence and religiously repeat the mantra of ‘pooling-and-sharing’, yet their economic mismanagement and stubborn support for Brexit continue to drag down households across the UK.

While the Westminster government leaves families to grapple with crippling food inflation, rising transport costs, and sluggish growth, the SNP is actively freezing rail fares, capping bus fares, and protecting family budgets through targeted support.

Investing in Education & Young People

An investment in our children is an investment in Scotland’s future and we are taking action to ensure young Scots have that future:

  • Over 360,000 pupils receive free school lunches, saving families around £450 per child every year, alongside the continued distribution of over 375,000 Baby Boxes.
  • We’re expanding the early literacy Bookbug programme to 20,000 more families and partnering with the Dollywood Foundation to bring the Imagination Library nationwide.

If you listened to the opposition’s snark you would be forgiven for thinking Scotland had returned to the ignorance of the dark ages.

Yet European statistics show a different picture. Before Scotland was pulled out of the EU, their statistics body EuroStat showed that Scotland had Europe’s best-educated population compared to EU member states and UK countries

That’s why, unlike the Westminster parties, the SNP will continue to keep tuition free in Scotland and never introduce tuition fees like other parts of the UK where they are approaching £10,000 a year.

Housing & Community

As new research has shown, the SNP government has invested almost four times more per capita than England in affordable housing.

To build on this record to ensure every Scot has a safe, warm, and affordable place to live, we are also reforming how housing is built and managed across the country:

  • We have established our new national housing agency to accelerate home building nationwide, creating a strategic partnership with the Scottish National Investment Bank to increase private capital.
  • We are backing first-time buyers through our £100m annual First Homes Fund, reforming planning to speed up developments, and consulting on tenant right-of-refusal rights if landlords sell.
  • We remain firmly committed to delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 – with 70% for social rent and 10% in rural & island communities – backed by £4.9bn in investment over four years.

As for the opposition who can trust the Tories after they sold off so much council housing without replacing it, and when Labour were last in power at Holyrood, with the LibDems, they only built six council houses in their final term of government.

Justice & Safer Communities

When it comes to law and order the SNP will continue to build a progressive system that has seen overall recorded crime in Scotland at its lowest levels in 50 years.

First Minister John Swinney’s administration is investing heavily in frontline policing and modernising court procedures:

Westminster opposition parties routinely resort to “touch justice” rhetoric, yet their own record in office in England & Wales reveals failures. South of the border, the Westminster government’s record reveals the crime rate in the UK was highest in England & Wales, particularly compared to Scotland where the crime rate has declined the most

It’s the SNP’s Cost-of-Living Guarantee vs. Westminster Austerity

Every single day, the SNP, as the Scottish Government, demonstrate what is possible when progressive policies are put into practice.

While Westminster obsessed opposition parties in Holyrood offer snide carping without solutions, the SNP will continue to protect the foundational benefits that make Scotland a fairer place to live.

While Westminster continues to impose fiscal constraints across the rest of the UK, the SNP is using the limited powers of devolution to do what we can to shield Scotland’s citizens, invest in public services, and build a sustainable economy.

Under First Minister John Swinney, the SNP has delivered for almost 20 years, is delivering for today, and is laying the foundations for a stronger, fairer Scotland tomorrow as an independent nation.