John Swinney: My son gives me high-quality advice before FMQs

John Swinney has revealed his son gives him “high-quality” political advice before First Minister’s Questions.

The First Minister said his 15-year-old boy is a frequent critic of his dad but was also keen to give him advice on battling his political opponents.

In an interview on LBC with wrestler Grado, who is speaking to the major party leaders ahead of the Holyrood election, Mr Swinney said Matthew would send him texts before his weekly session of FMQs.

He told the Two Doors Down actor: “I got a message from him at about 9pm, so I know immediately he’ll be in trouble, because the phone should have been away by that time.

“So, he sent me a message giving me some advice about what I should say at First Minister’s Questions the following day.

“I replied to him and said that was really helpful, and all that sort of stuff.

“And then the following morning, on his way to school, on the bus, I get these other messages: you should see this, you should see that, and when they say this, you should say that.

“And you know this? It was the highest quality political advice – 15-year-old.”

Mr Swinney admitted he would be “in terrible trouble” with his son when he watches the interview, adding: “I can’t tell you how much trouble I’ll be in.”

The SNP leader said his son was also eager to tell him where he went wrong.

He said after one session of FMQs: “You spoke for far too long,” before adding: “Cut the words”.

“I’ve got to go home tonight and see what feedback I get tonight after answering the questions today, and see what he’s got to say.”

During the interview, the First Minister was shown how to perform a wrestling move called “the bear hug”, which involved him being picked up and squeezed by Grado, before Swinney tried the move on him.

Speaking about his personal life, Mr Swinney declared himself a Hearts fan, which he said was not well-publicised. He said he also supported St Johnstone due to his son’s support, but said that he thought that Hearts would win the league.

Reflecting on his relationship with Donald Trump, Mr Swinney refused to be drawn on whether he liked the US President.

He said he first spoke to the American leader as FM in December 2024, a month after his win, after a member of his team said he wanted to speak to Mr Swinney.

“We got a message saying that President Trump wanted to speak to me,” he said. “I was a bit, kind of, wow.

“So the phone call got set up, and we literally phoned the number of the person I’ve just said there, and then the young woman said, ‘just hold on a second, I’ll just get the president for you’, and the phone must have been just handed to him, and that was start the conversation.”

He said the president spoke about his golf courses, his mother and Scotland.

Asked by Grado how orange Mr Trump’s face was, Scotland’s First Minister said: “I would say it’s not as pronounced as it looks on the telly.”

“This is getting into very dangerous territory,” he added.