Can't find a space in the city centre? Swinney just parks his taxpayer-funded limo in the bus stop

By HANNAH RODGER, CHIEF REPORTER FOR THE SCOTTISH MAIL ON SUNDAY Published: 17:51, 25 April 2026 | Updated: 17:51, 25 April 2026 John Swinney has come under fire for using his ministerial limo to get to an SNP campaign stunt…then parking it in a bus stop. The First Minister took his ministerial car on a visit to the Barras in Glasgow to campaign alongside an SNP candidate on April 11, where the pair posed for photographs wearing cowboy hats. The swanky black car is used by the First Minister to transport him everywhere, despite the SNP spending thousands on an official campaign bus featuring a giant picture of Mr Swinney, and which he said last week was a ‘visual signal of the intensity’ of the campaign. Russell Findlay, who spotted the car while on a trip to the Barras that same day, said Swinney may have breached government rules, which state: ‘Official transport should not normally be used for travel arrangements arising from party or private business, except where this is justified on security grounds.’ The Scottish Conservative leader said: ‘This illustrates how out of touch and arrogant Swinney is. Not only does he think he's already won the election, he thinks the rules don't apply to him. ‘I knew it was out of order when I clocked John Swinney's personal limo parked illegally in a bus stop. ‘But it gets worse with the discovery that he was using this taxpayer-funded car for an SNP election event. ‘He turned up at the Barras to get his photo taken for some party-political stunt before being whisked away again by his driver.' The First Minister's private ministerial car in a bus stop after dropping him off for an SNP stunt John Swinney posing for pictures wearing a cowboy hat during a trip to the Barras Mr Findlay added: 'Given his attitude towards using the public purse for his own transport, it's no surprise that he defended his health secretary for taking a ministerial limo to the football.’ Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman Michael Marra said ‘John Swinney and the SNP are taking taxpayers for a ride. ‘If John Swinney has an explanation for how campaigning in a cowboy hat and an SNP-branded jacket could be considered government business, I’d like to hear it.’ In 2024 Health Secretary Neil Gray was forced to apologise to MSPs after taking his ministerial limo to football matches to see his team play, bringing along friends and relatives for the taxpayer-funded ride. Angela Constance later admitted using her ministerial vehicle to go to an Old Firm game with her son. And in 2017 Nicola Sturgeon was urged to investigate breaches of the ministerial code after nine SNP ministers used taxpayer-funded limos to travel from the party’s General Election manifesto launch in Perth. The nationalists have been accused of targeting drivers with a rise in the use of ‘low emission zones’ in cities, and a focus in the latest budget on trains, buses and ‘active travel’ measures to encourage more people to ditch their vehicles. The SNP said it would not comment on the First Minister’s travel arrangements for security reasons. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.