This is bbc news, the headlines we can go to the Scottish Parliament where there is an election taking place to choose the new First Minister, to replace humza yousaf. John swinney is now in the process and the votes are being cast for him and the votes are being cast for him and it is expected he will imminently be leader of the Scottish National party but he needs to be formally elected as First Minister by the Scottish Parliament and that is what is happening right now. All of the Party Leaders are allowed to nominate themselves as First Minister and it is now the turn of john swinney and he is expected to have a majority of votes. Voting is pretty simple, msps press a button to register their preference. We can now have a listen. The to register their preference. We can now have a listen. Now have a listen. The vote is closed. Could now have a listen. The vote is closed. Could any now have a listen. The vote is closed. Could any member. Now have a listen. The vote is l closed. Coul
Process closed at midday. The party was like secretary then confirmed Thatjohn Swinney is the party leader. Mr swinney has also posted on social media, saying he feels deeply honoured to be elected leader of the party, adding that he will give his all to serve the party and scotland. Of course with mr swinney being unopposed in this context, it means the snp has avoided extending the uncertainty at the top of scottish politics. Had there been another contender in this contest, it would have meant a Leadership Battle going on for the next three weeks, untiljuly 27. There had been talk of a late bid over the weekend. Activist Graeme Mccormick has said that he had gathered enough support to enter the contest. But in a statement late last night, he announced he decided not to run after having a conversation with john swinney. They had agreed on a number of topics and issues, he said he was going to Supportjohn Swinney instead. It he was going to support john swinney instead. , ,. , instead
campaign here in the uk. all parties out again this weekend vying for support. rishi sunak has pledged to give 30 towns across the uk £20 million each if the conservatives are re elected. he says the money would go towards the long term regeneration of the areas, under the government s levelling up scheme. a topic labour leader kier starmer hasn t been able to escape is dianne abbott. there s been a lot of controversy over the terms of the re admittance of the veteran labour mp into the party. keir starmer has been tackling that issue as well this morning, denying that his party is blocking left wing candidates. 0n diane abbott you said last week you weren t going to get involved in her case. you said the days when the leader rolls up his sleeves and gets involved are well and truly over, that s what corbyn did and ended badly. you said it was a matter for the nec on candidate selection and you avoided having a view becausejeremy corbyn expressed a view and that leads to a
expect today. that is right. john swinne , expect today. that is right. john swinney, scotland s expect today. that is right. john swinney, scotland s first - expect today. that is right. john i swinney, scotland s first minister is campaigning here in north east scotland today, a key battleground for the snp and conservatives. it is very much a divided political make up very much a divided political make up and the snp very much see themselves as the challengers in this area for the three conservative seats that are here. there are six conservative seats in scotland, three here in the north east. here in aberdeen south, it is currently an snp constituency held by snp westminster leader stephen flynn, and mr swinney earlier, a short time ago, visited a cafe here, which is well known for dolphin watching. as you may be able to see, there is also evidence in the harbour behind me of the city s oil and gas industry, a very important issue for voters in this area. but mr swinney s messag