Edinburgh - Mr John Swinney (36), the favourite to succeed Mr Alex Salmond as head of the Scottish National Party, confirmed yesterday he would run for the job.
Mr Swinney, who worked closely with Mr Salmond for several years as deputy SNP leader, was widely tipped to move into the leadership after Mr Salmond's resignation on July 17th. The only other candidate to have thrown a hat into the ring so far is shadow social security spokesman Mr Alex Neil (48).