Spend five minutes with First Minister John Swinney and it becomes clear that the “Honest John” moniker his opponents have unwisely gifted him is no act.

He is a man of deep principle.

One senior SNP insider told me they believe he won last year’s election for one simple reason.

They said: “Most Scots believe that whatever problem lands on his desk, he will try to do the honourable thing in response.”

That is a difficult quality to capture on an election leaflet or in a manifesto. Trust of that kind takes great effort to build and just moments to destroy. Swinney is quick to bristle when his integrity is questioned, and for good reason.

What is ‘Swinneyism’?

There has been much discussion about whether Scotland is about to witness the emergence of “Swinneyism”.

I was the first journalist to interview the first minister after his election victory, and I have spent considerable time speaking to those around him to understand his political project.

Those conversations have left me convinced that, beyond any particular policy agenda or vision for the country, there is such a thing as Swinneyism.

It is remarkably simple, too. It begins with an acknowledgement that the SNP lost something precious in the........

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