The Scottish National Party is holding its conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre
SNP leader and Scotland's first minister John Swinney has been speaking to party delegates
The first minister has reflected on July's general election, saying it was an "incredibly tough night for the SNP"
He has also emphasised how the Scottish government is working “harder and smarter” to deliver in the face of spending cuts
Mr Swinney has said his priorities are: ending child poverty, reaching net-zero targets, delivering strong public services and boosting the economy
Swinney is recalling the party’s tough times in the 1970s, but how they came through that period to success.
He cites the expansion in childcare and the lack of tuition fees in Scotland as achievements that were built on by those tough times.
The first minister says the SNP “stepped up” and that they are “transforming the lives of people in Scotland”.
He adds party members “should be proud” of what they have accomplished.
Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
This is a very personal speech from John Swinney.
The membership know their leader - he last gave an autumn conference speech in that position 21 years ago.
But it helps to tell his story to a wider audience.
He thanked his family for the sacrifices they make so he can be First Minister.
He also explained his reasons for joining the SNP at such a young age - during difficult times - as he yearns for independence.
Image source, PA MediaJohn Swinney says 4 July was an "incredibly tough night for the SNP"
The first minister turns his attention to the recent general election, saying 4 July was an "incredibly tough night for the SNP".
Swinney says: "We are learning the lessons of that election."
Image source, PA Mediaohn Swinney, with his wife Elizabeth Quigley, on the steps of Bute House in Edinburgh
The first minister is now speaking about his family, saying it is the “love of those around us that makes us thrive”, and that it was central to his decision to take on the role.
He praises his wife Elizabeth – who has MS – for “the sacrifice of not having her husband around quite as much as she probably needs” and thanks her for supporting him.
Swinney then switches from his family to his “SNP family”, recalling joining the party 45 years ago.
John Swinney turns to the situation in Gaza and says: "Let the message from this conference be heard loud and clear: the killing of innocent men, women and children must end - and it must end now."
Swinney calls for an immediate ceasfire and the cessation of UK arms being sent to Israel.
John Swinney strides to the lectern to cheers and applause from the delegates.
The first minister smiles and waves and begins his speech.
He says it is an "immense privilege" to give his first speech to conferenece as first minister.
The first minister pays a warm tribute to his predecessor Humza Yousaf.
We're now seeing the introductory video for the first minister.
John Swinney will start his first speech as first minister at conference shortly.
The SNP's deputy leader Keith Brown is introducing John Swinney.
Image source, PA MediaJohn Swinney and his wife Elizabeth Quigley outside Bute House after he won the nomination to become first minister
John Swinney will take to the stage shortly.
Before he does, let's look back at his career...
He believed his days in frontline politics were over, when an SNP leadership crisis propelled him back to the head of the party.
He previously led the party between 2000 and 2004, succeeding Alex Salmond.
Following disappointing results in the 2003 Scottish Parliament and 2004 European Parliament elections, Mr Swinney stood down.
When the SNP came to power at Holyrood for the first time in 2007, Salmond - by that time back in charge of the SNP - turned to Mr Swinney to be his finance secretary.
He held that post for more than seven years and then became deputy first minister to Nicola Sturgeon.
After a second spell as finance secretary, Swinney served as education secretary and then Covid recovery secretary.
He stood down from government at the same time as Nicola Sturgeon, in March 2023, and had seemingly retired from the frontbenches.
However, following the resignation of Humza Yousaf, Swinney began a second stint as SNP leader, citing a sense of "duty" to the party.
In a busy week for John Swinney, this Wednesday will see him deliver the all-important programme for government.
The first minister will reveal some of his thinking on this during his keynote speech to the conference this afternoon.
Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
This is an important moment for John Swinney to set out his aims and ambitions as first minister - and attempt to move the party on from the general election defeat.
This is about trying to re-connect with the people’s priorities - the concerns of voters which the Westminster leader Stephen Flynn had said they’d moved away from.
Government sources have said there’s been an issue about the SNP over-promising and under-delivering in office.
This speech is designed to put a laser-like focus on a small number of key issues - including ending child poverty and boosting economic growth.
It’s about saying what can be done - and then really delivering on that.
This will tie in with Swinney’s Programme for Government on Wednesday at Holyrood.
On Tuesday, there will be an announcement about significant cuts in government spending due to what they call Labour austerity.
This helps draw the battle lines and prepare the SNP for taking the fight to Labour and trying to stay in power.
That is John Swinney’s aim for his party.
Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Image source, ReutersSNP supporters at the election counts in Glasgow
In Scotland the general election was a night of political contrasts - celebration for Labour and catastrophe for the SNP.
Having turned itself into an election-winning machine, the party dropped dozens of seats from the 48 it won in 2019, marking its worst performance in a general election for more than a decade.
The SNP’s troubles are well known - disillusionment over a lack of progress towards independence, internal divisions over gender reform and the ongoing police investigation into party finances, to name a few.
But many in the SNP were shocked by the scale of defeat, as seat after seat turned from yellow to red.
Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
This is being billed as John Swinney’s first speech to the party conference as first minister.
However, it’s certainly not his first speech as SNP leader.
His last big autumn conference speech was in September 2003 at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness.
The parallels with recent events won’t be lost on the party.
In 2003, the SNP had just experienced a disappointing election and members had gathered to dissect what went wrong.
At the time, the Swinney leadership was under threat and he faced a challenge from a member, Bill Wilson.
Wilson was unhappy at the party’s strategic direction - and Swinney’s direction ended up being straight out the door the following summer after a bad showing at the Euro election.
But the parallel ends there for John Swinney.
There was another disappointing election result in July - but he does not have to shoulder the blame for that.
This time round he’s attempting to re-build the party and hold on to power in the 2026 Holyrood election.
Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland chief political correspondent
It’s the third and final day of the SNP conference, and almost time for John Swinney’s keynote speech.
His audience of party members is of course a receptive one.
And over the last two days has seemed surprisingly upbeat, considering this conference is being held in the wake of a painful defeat in July’s general election.
Much of that energy seems to emanate from a belief that Swinney is the right man to transform the party.
But don’t expect radical new policies today - his speech comes against the backdrop of Scottish government cuts.
Plus, he’ll be saving much of the substance of his agenda for his first Programme for Government at Holyrood next week.
This is John Swinney's first SNP conference as party leader and first minister, but who is he?
Scotland's first minister was born and raised in Edinburgh.
He went to the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with a degree in politics in 1986.
Before winning the Tayside North seat at Westminster in 1997, Swinney worked at the Scottish Coal Project and spent five years at Scottish Amicable Life Assurance.
He joined the SNP in 1979 aged 15 after a referendum held that year failed to deliver devolution for Scotland.
Swinney was soon running the SNP's youth wing and climbed through senior roles in the national party, becoming its secretary aged 22.
He is Scotland’s longest serving elected parliamentarian.
The phrase we can expect to hear throughout the SNP leader's address to the conference is the "people's priorities".
So what are they?
John Swinney is expected to pledge to serve everyone who chooses to make Scotland their home and work to ensure a less polarised national debate.
He will say in an era of Westminster cuts the SNP will have to work harder and smarter to deliver its ambitions for Scotland.
First Minister John Swinney says SNP must establish approach for delivering independence
Let's take a chance to reflect on the recent general election and what the result was for the SNP.
The party lost 39 seats.
Labour made dramatic gains across the central belt, with most of their results following vote share swings of about 20% from the SNP.
First Minister John Swinney described the result, the SNP's worst since 2010, as "very, very difficult and damaging".
He said at the time that his party would have to rebuild trust with the people of Scotland.
Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Image source, PAFirst Minister John Swinney speaks with delegates during the SNP annual national conference at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre
John Swinney joined the SNP as a teenager and has a burning passion for Scottish independence.
Through his long years in the Scottish government, he has cultivated an image of being a sober-suited figure, perhaps perceived by a UK audience as the epitome of an old-fashioned, Scottish bank manager.
His responses in interviews are clear and precise and he doesn’t let his emotions show.
However, in real life he comes across as far more charismatic; warm and witty with a famously raucous laugh.
When Swinney announced his candidacy to stand as SNP leader back in May, he gave a bravura performance - that burning passion was clear to see.
His advisors will be hoping for more of that today.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop
The SNP need to “focus on working smarter and harder” to win back voters, a Scottish government minister has said this morning.
Transport SecretaryFiona Hyslop told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that voters “have been disappointed” with the SNP recently, resulting in their disappointing performance at the general election in July.
She said: “We have to look very hard at what the electorate has told us.
"They have been disappointed in us.
"They know the SNP can, and are capable of, being quite different from other political parties and have delivered on lots of policies they are very supportive of, but the conduct of the party, the policies in terms of delivery, and some of the challenges we have faced, we have perhaps spread ourselves too thin.”
Hyslop added that the Scottish government will take a “family first approach” with their “very limited resources”, saying they would aim to save money by cutting back on administration.
She also said the government did not regret the council tax freeze announced at last year’s party conference – a decision many local authorities blamed for damaging their budgets.
Image source, PA MediaJohn Swinney is at the SNP's annual conference in Edinburgh
This is the third day of the SNP conference and today we'll hear John Swinney's crucial key note speech, which you can watch here on the live page.
The first minister has already addressed party delegates during a closed-door session which was recorded and leaked to The Times newspaper, external.
He said the SNP had spent too long focusing on the "process of independence".
On Saturday at the conference the SNP's leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said the voters had sent the SNP a "stark message" in the election and warned the party had to be "brutally honest" with itself.
Image source, PASNP party leader John Swinney will address the conference at around 15:30.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the leaders' speech to the SNP's annual national conference.
First Minister John Swinney is due to begin his address at around 15:30.
We'll bring you reports and analysis throughout this afternoon and of course you will be able to watch the speech live by clicking on the play icon at the top of the page.