Nicola Sturgeon says she believes John Swinney if he says he has a secret plan

Nicola Sturgeon has backed her former deputy’s leadership of the SNP, saying she believes he has a strategy to achieve independence.

John Swinney told members at his party conference in Aberdeen “nobody knows” the tactics he will deploy to win a majority of SNP MSPs at next year’s election.

Speaking as she appeared at the conference to sign copies of her memoir, Frankly, and appear at a fringe meeting, the former first minister said: “I’ve known John Swinney for a long, long time and if he says he has a secret plan, he has a secret plan.

“I’ve got confidence in him to deliver it.”

Ms Sturgeon added that she was confident Mr Swinney could deliver a majority next year, but asked if he should step down if he fails, an exasperated former first minister said: “For goodness sake… I’ve been in politics for more than 30 years and when it was Alex who was leader, John the first time, then it was me, Humza and now John again, it’s the standard question isn’t it?

“‘If you do badly here or you don’t do as well as you think, are you going to step down?’

“John’s the leader of the party, I think he will lead the party to success and lead the country for a longer period as First Minister because of that and I have confidence in him to do that.”

But Scottish Labour constitution spokesman Neil Bibby said the First Minister “doesn’t have a plan at all”.

“You’d laugh if it wasn’t tragic for the people of Scotland to have a tired and out of touch Government who are more obsessed with division than getting the basics right,” he added.

“The next election is about whether the SNP stays in government or not, not if they win a majority or not.

“But Scots know we can’t risk a third decade of this tired and incompetent Government.

“Our NHS is on its knees, with record waiting lists and thousands forced to turn to the private sector, violence in schools is rising, and the housing emergency is worsening by the day.

“The SNP has had almost two decades to get it right, but things are only getting worse.”

The former first minister attended the speech of depute leader Keith Brown and Palestinian ambassador Dr Husam Zomlot on Sunday, where she was seen embracing and speaking to Mr Swinney.

Before he introduced the ambassador, the First Minister praised Ms Sturgeon’s leadership, saying: “The Scotland I lead will always raise her voice in favour of peace, justice and humanity and that same approach to leadership is the approach to leadership taken by my dear friend Nicola Sturgeon and I’m so delighted she’s here today at our conference.”

Ms Sturgeon received a standing ovation after Mr Swinney’s speech.