Scotland’s first minister has admitted the upcoming general election will be a challenge for the SNP given the “tough time” the party has faced recently – however, members are said to be “united” and “focused on winning”.

The race for Number 10 is under way after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a summer general election for 4 July.

Speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning, John Swinney told presenter Kay Burley: “I think it will be a challenging election for us, Kay.

“We’ve obviously had a tough time as a party, but I’ve come into the party leadership. I’ve been in for two-and-a-half weeks and the party’s come together already. It’s very united.

“We’ve got our candidates in place, and we’ve got a strong message that Westminster has inflicted a lot of damage in Scotland through austerity, Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

“And the way to address that is for Scotland to take these decisions for ourselves by being an independent country and people can vote for the SNP to put Scotland first.”

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In response to a recent YouGov survey that put Labour 10 points ahead of the SNP north of the border, the first minister admitted his party has “got work to do”.

‘We’re moving on’

It comes amid an ongoing Police Scotland probe into the SNP’s finances, which has seen former first minister Nicola Sturgeon arrested and released without charge and her husband Peter Murrell charged with embezzlement of party funds.

Ms Sturgeon has continued to deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Swinney said: “We’ve obviously had a tough time with all sorts of issues been facing my party, but we’re moving on.

“I’m in the leadership. I’ve brought my party together. We’re very united and cohesive and we’re focused on winning this election.”

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He added: “We’re ready for the election campaign and we’ve got a strong message that if people want things to be different in Scotland, and we don’t have to suffer from austerity or Brexit or the cost of living crisis, then they’ve got to vote for the SNP.

“Because what we know in history is that Scotland only does well when the SNP does well, and this election is an opportunity for people in Scotland to put Scotland first.”

Mr Swinney said his time on the backbenches after stepping down as deputy first minister when Ms Sturgeon resigned gave him time to “rest”.

‘Fresh perspective’

He said: “I’ve been able to see things from a fresh perspective, and my leadership’s about bringing Scotland together.”

He added: “And I now want to unify Scotland in a demand to make sure that we can control our own future and we don’t have to be at the mercy of foolish decisions that are taken at Westminster like austerity, like Brexit, like the cost of living crisis, which are inflicting real damage on the lives of people in Scotland.”

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Mr Swinney would not reveal whether or not he would agree to a deal with another party at Westminster.

But he added: “We want to make sure that this election results in the removal of a Conservative government that’s done enormous damage to Scotland, and we want the SNP to have a large team in Westminster that can put Scotland first and can make the arguments for Scottish independence to make sure that our country has a secure future.”

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