projected to win a majority<\/a> in the Scottish Parliament – a result he argues would give him a mandate to negotiate with Westminster on a second independence referendum. <\/p>\nThe Scottish First Minister said he would \u201cenjoy the co-operation\u201d of working alongside separatist parties as the devolved nations each push for independence from the UK. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Mr Swinney told reporters that pro-independence administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would leave the UK \u201cchanged irreversibly\u201d.<\/p>\n
He suggested the three devolved governments would push to alter the Union’s “dynamic”, and ultimately lead to its break-up. <\/p>\n
If Plaid Cymru and SNP were to win the most seats in their respective legislatures, it would mark the first time that separatists controlled all three nations since devolution occurred in 1999. <\/p>\n
The First Minister told journalists on the campaign trail: “I certainly would enjoy the co-operation with counterparts in Plaid and Sinn Fein in Wales and Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203584%202608'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\")
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The Scottish First Minister said he would ‘enjoy the co-operation’ of working alongside separatist parties<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is for each of those individuals to lead their political campaigns in their own countries, and I don\u2019t speak for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut certainly from my part I would appreciate that collaboration to change the dynamics of the UK so that we can – I can – secure my objective of winning Scottish independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from that, I think the UK would be changed irreversibly if that outcome was to be the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, Michelle O\u2019Neill does not face an election in Northern Ireland at this stage, but she will be in office. <\/p>\n
SCOTTISH ELECTION – READ THE LATEST:<\/p>\n
![\"\\u200bPlaid](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%203936%202632'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\")
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Plaid Cymru is on course to topple Labour in the Senedd on May 7<\/p>\n
| PA ![\"Michelle](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%202000%201365'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\")
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Sinn Fein became the first nationalist party to win the most seats in a Northern Irish election in 2022<\/p>\n
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“And obviously the opportunities for Plaid Cymru are very visible in Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Swinney suggested the outcome would significantly change the “nature of the discussions” between Westminster and the devolved nations. <\/p>\n
Last week, a poll carried out by The Telegraph predicted the SNP to win 67 seats in the Scottish Parliament next month. <\/p>\n
The survey also pointed towards to a two-way battle for second place between Labour and Reform UK, with the Conservatives trailing in fourth.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%205000%203550'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\")
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Mr Swinney suggested the outcome would significantly change the ‘nature of the discussions’ with Westminster<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
During a televised debate, Mr Swinney argued that an SNP majority of any size would serve as a mandate for a second referendum. <\/p>\n
When asked when another vote could take place, the First Minister said it would be \u201cperfectly conceivable\u201d for a referendum to be held by 2028.<\/p>\n
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar insisted the election is \u201cnot about independence\u201d – while Reform UK\u2019s Scottish head, Lord Malcolm Offord, said another referendum would be \u201cdivisive\u201d, but did not rule out the idea.<\/p>\n
However, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said earlier this month there would not be another referendum, even if the SNP wins a majority at Holyrood.<\/p>\n
He argued that Labour\u2019s 2024 landslide – which saw the party win 37 of Scotland\u2019s 57 Westminster constituencies – gave Sir Keir Starmer a mandate to refuse another independence referendum.<\/p>\n
Scottish Labour is projected to record its worst result since the creation of the Scottish Parliament, finishing second on just 19 seats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The SNP has vowed to work alongside separatist parties in Wales and Northern Ireland to rip up the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[461,59,57,58,50,229,3990,56,44208,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-545754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-elections","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greatbritain","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-snp","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-uk-politics","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-swinney.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\\u200bPlaid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/u200bplaid-cymru-leader-rhun-ap-iorwert.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Michelle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/michelle-o-neill.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/john-swinney-and-keir-starmer.jpg\")
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