John Swinney the activist looks to rally the troops ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election

The first day of the 91st annual SNP conference in Aberdeen has come to a close with party members overwhelmingly backing Mr Swinney’s plans for a second independence referendum.

Essentially, he wants to replicate the 2011 election and argues that the SNP winning a majority of seats is enough to call for a second referendum.

The big challenge for Mr Swinney this weekend is firing the starting gun on the nationalists’ election campaign and getting activists excited about going out to fight for an unprecedented fifth term in office.

That is a tall order for the man who was brought in to put out the fires started by his three predecessors and was seen as a caretaker leader.

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But when he went out onto the stage, he came out as John Swinney the activist, rather than the First Minister whose only job is “steadying the ship”.

His speech was one of unfettered ambition - no ceiling seems to be too high for the SNP leader this weekend.

He said: “[Westminster] said a one party majority is needed for a mandate - I say challenge accepted by the SNP.

“Others say we are too ambitious, but ambition is part of the DNA this party was founded on to campaign for self-governance.

“I choose to be ambitious but realistic - a majority is well within our grasp.”

He also took the opportunity to rewrite the legacy that he is currently saddled with.

“I didn’t take on the leadership to make a difference in the margins or make a bit of progress on independence or pave the way for the next generation to win it,” he said.

“I took on the leadership to deliver independence and that’s exactly what I’m going to do for Scotland.”

He needs to be careful not to fly too close to the sun - the latest polling suggests his party is on track to win the next election, but promises of an outright SNP majority at the ballot box is perhaps a step too far at this point in time.

Mr Swinney’s deputy Keith Brown has said he is staking his leadership on delivering independence, something which may come back to bite him down the line.

But Saturday was a day for appealing to his core voter base, and by and large he seems to have succeeded. Speaking to party members after the independence debate, they seemed pleased with how the vote went and energised about getting started.

Another speech which seemed to go down well with the party faithful was the opening speech by Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

There were no mentions of his very public ambition of high office in Holyrood in his speech, but his light-hearted jokes and rallying criticism of Westminster saw him rewarded with three standing ovations and plenty of cheers.

A year ago the SNP party was battered and bruised from the drubbing they got at the general election. This year the atmosphere feels somewhat more positive.

Under Nicola Sturgeon the party felt untouchable and that confidence was palpable at party conferences. It is certainly a far cry from the heydays, but a huge step forward compared to 2024.