Senior SNP minister Shona Robison addresses 'leaving politics' question over 2026 re-election

The Dundee East MSP has been a member of Parliament since the dawn of devolution in 1999. She has held some of the top jobs in government, including deputy first minister under Humza Yousaf.

However, Ms Robison said she has refused to rule out stepping down from politics at next year’s Scottish Parliament election.

She told journalists: “I will set out my intentions in due course. But I am very pleased with how the 2025/26 Scottish Budget has gone and I’m very much enjoying my role.

“Clearly everybody is making their mind up about what their future holds and I know there’s been some speculation.

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“But if I say yes or no, I’m not leaving myself the scope to make a final decision.”

Ms Robison said being finance secretary was “probably the best” of all the government jobs she has had.

“I wasn’t sure that was going to be the case when I first took it on, but it’s actually been really good,” she said.

This comes after Business Minister Richard Lochhead, who has also been an MSP since devolution, announced over the weekend that he would not stand for re-election in 2026.

Former first minister Humza Yousaf also confirmed at the end of last year that he would be leaving politics in 2026.

When asked if she was following Mr Yousaf out the door as his deputy, Ms Robison said: “I’ve got decisions to make, but I’m not going to rule that out at some point.”

This comes as Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick confirmed he will be stepping down at the next election.

Mr Fitzpatrick was first elected in 2007 and he served in government under Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.