'Sleekit' Swinney slips out £1.7m bill for army of spin doctors during by-election

Daily Mail​

08-06-2025

The First Minister has been dubbed 'sleekit' after the average £100,000 bill for each of his 17 spin-doctors was slipped out under cover of the Hamilton by-election.
The 'shameful' details were quietly released as Scotland woke up to Labour shock win over the SNP on Friday.
An obscure parliamentary written answer showed taxpayers were charged more than £1.7million for 17 special advisers, known as SpAds, in the last financial year.
Appointed by the First Minister, SpAds are temporary civil servants who are not bound by neutrality rules and offer explicit political advice and brief the media.
Scottish Tory finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: 'The SNP have wasted a shameful amount of taxpayers' money on their army of spin-doctors.
'You'd be forgiven for thinking sleekit Swinney snuck out these bombshell figures on a day when people's minds were elsewhere.'
Labour narrowly won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection in the early hours of Friday morning by 602 votes, defying expectations that the SNP would hold the seat.
The SpAd costs were released via a 'Government inspired question', a device that lets ministers make information public with minimal fanfare.
On June 5, the day of the byelection, a question tabled in the name of SNP loyalist Rona Mackay asked the total cost of employing special advisers in 2024/25.
The next day, as politicians pored over the result, minister for parliamentary business Jamie Hepburn, who was SNP campaign coordinator in the byelection, replied.
He revealed the total cost was £1,745,042, which included salary costs, employer national insurance, and employer pension contributions.
Nine SpAds were paid between £71,393 and £78,719, seven between £84,983 and £97,644, and one - most likely chief of staff Colin McAllister - between £108,781 and £116,435.
Ministers are currently paid £109,584.
When Ms Mackay, the MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, asked the same question last year it was not until September that she received a reply.
Scottish Labour deputy Dame Jackie Baillie said: 'Scots are sick of footing the bill for an SNP government that is still failing to deliver.
'And this sleekit attempt to sneak these figures out during a by-election won't hide the fact that the SNP cannot be trusted with taxpayers' money.'
Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie added: 'The SNP are investing more effort in making excuses for their failures in government.'
The SpAd bill has more than trebled since the SNP came to power in 2007, when Alex Salmond had seven full-time special advisers costing £566,000.
However the cost last year was lower than 2023/24, when Humza Yousaf employed a record 19 SpAds costing £1,906,963.
SpAds are exempt from political neutrality rules and can advise ministers on everything from political strategy to speech-writing and policy.
Critics believe they have been central to creating a 'secret Scotland' culture within the SNP Government.
In 2022, the Scottish Information Commissioner found 'significant and systemic failures' in the way the SNP Government responds to freedom of information (FoI) requests.
This included evidence that many FoI responses were sent to SpAds for comment before they were issued.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Due to the appointment of a new First Minister in May 2024, there were several changes to the Special Adviser team.
'The number and total cost of special advisers reduced in comparison to the previous year.'