Swinney predicts SNP majority at Holyrood election
First Minister John Swinney has told BBC News he is "confident" that the SNP will win a majority at next month's Scottish Parliament election.
Recent polling suggests that the party is on track to retain its status as Holyrood's largest party, having been in power for almost 20 years.
In an interview for Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Swinney made his boldest prediction yet - claiming the SNP will win the 65 seats it needs for a majority. Such a result, he insists, would provide a mandate for a second independence referendum.
Scotland's other largest parties have urged voters to back them to prevent an SNP majority, or accused the first minister of bluffing.
Looking ahead to the 7 May election, Swinney told Kuenssberg: "I think we will get a majority."
He added: "I'm confident to predict it and that's what I'm focused on achieving."
The Holyrood voting system is a mix of first-past-the-post and proportional representation - making it harder for a party to secure a majority than in a Westminster election, for instance.
Yet the SNP have proved it can be done - winning a majority in 2011 that paved the way for the 2014 independence referendum.
The party also came just one seat short of a majority in the last Holyrood election, in 2021.
Scotland voted by 55% to 45% to remain in the UK in 2014, but the SNP insists another majority would again open the door to a referendum.
Such a vote would have to be signed off by the UK government, though Labour ministers have repeatedly ruled out a vote in the foreseeable future.
Asked last week about the prospect of a referendum, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "We're not having one."
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie accused Swinney of arrogance.
"This election is not about whether the SNP wins a majority or not – it is about who forms the next government," she said.
"Only Scottish Labour can get rid of this complacent and out of touch SNP government and fix the mess they have made, and only Anas Sarwar can replace John Swinney as first minister."
Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton dismissed Swinney's claim, and predicted his party would make gains next month.
He said voters were "rightly sceptical of SNP promises of endless freebies", adding that the Lib Dems had published "a costed manifesto with a focus on access to health and tackling the cost of living crisis".
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay said: "It is no surprise that John Swinney is trying to encourage people to vote for his party, but if the last five years show one thing it's that he needs Green MSPs pushing him out of his comfort zone if we are to deliver the change that Scotland needs."
A Reform UK spokesperson said: "John Swinney can claim whatever he likes but after nearly two decades of SNP failure, Scots know the reality which is struggling public services and broken promises.
"This election is far from decided, and voters have a real opportunity to reject more of the same and choose a different direction for Scotland."
And Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: "If John Swinney's arrogant boast of a majority comes true then Scotland will be plunged into fresh constitutional chaos.
"We're the only party that can be trusted to stand up for the Union and stand up to the SNP."