Sturgeon was a 'better' FM than Swinney, says Greens co-leader

Nicola Sturgeon was a better first minister than John Swinney, according to the leader of the SNP's former partners in government.

Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay claimed the Scottish government had moved away from a left-wing agenda under Swinney's leadership.

A power-sharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens, known as the Bute House Agreement, was terminated by then First Minister Humza Yousaf in 2024.

"I think the government's probably shifted more to the centre than it certainly was under Nicola," Mackay told the BBC's Scotcast podcast. "We think he should be going further and faster on an awful lot of things."

Asked by Scotcast presenter Martin Geissler whether the "left-leaning" Sturgeon or Yousaf had made better first ministers, Mackay said: "Nicola was better than either of the other two for me.

"That might be partly because I see more of my politics in in Nicola than I do in in Humza or John."

Mackay also said "trust needs to be rebuilt" between her party and the SNP before they work together in government again.

"After the way the Bute House Agreement was ended, I think trust in certain places was broken," she said.

Mackay was speaking to the BBC podcast in the latest in a series of interviews with party leaders ahead of May's Holyrood election.

The episode is available on BBC Sounds and other podcast apps.