John Swinney 'had been trying to step down for years'

Deputy first minister John Swinney has revealed that he repeatedly tried to leave the Scottish government over the last seven years.

Mr Swinney told the BBC that Nicola Sturgeon "wouldn't countenance" his offers to make way in 2016 and 2021.

He also came "incredibly close" to resigning over the controversial system of exam moderation during the pandemic.

Ms Sturgeon said she had always done everything in her power to keep Mr Swinney in government.

The first minister described her long-serving deputy as "the most important person in my adult life outside my husband and family".

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The pair will stand down together next week after 16 years in power, following the election of a new SNP leader.

They have been speaking to the Nicola Sturgeon podcast - a new series starting on BBC Sounds on Monday 27 March.

The first episode tells the inside story of the first minister's sudden resignation.

Mr Swinney said he became "pretty certain" Ms Sturgeon was set to leave about a week before her announcement.

However, he had started to wonder about her thinking at Christmas, when he told the first minister he intended to leave government when his spell as acting finance secretary was over.

Ms Sturgeon apparently did not challenge his decision, as she had done on previous occasions.

When Mr Swinney offered to stand down after the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016 and 2021 he said "she basically wouldn't countenance me leaving government".

That was confirmed by Ms Sturgeon, who said that whenever her deputy raised the possibility of leaving she had "done everything in my power to talk him out of it".

Asked about what impact Mr Swinney's decision had on her, the first minister said she may already have been starting to wrestle with her own future.

"If you'd said to me then that come the middle of February you're going to be announcing your resignation, I would have said, don't be ridiculous," she said.

"But looking back on it, I think subconsciously I was already grappling with that, and maybe in my response to John there was a sense of what deep down inside maybe I knew was coming for me as well."

Mr Swinney felt he should resign during a row over exam grades during the Covid pandemic

Ms Sturgeon has relied heavily on Mr Swinney over her years in power and once again rejected his offer to resign during the 2020 exams debacle.

As education secretary, Mr Swinney approved a system of moderation that resulted in some pupils being downgraded based on the historic performance of their school.

The system was widely considered to be unfair to those from more deprived areas and was eventually scrapped with students receiving the grades their teachers recommended instead.

"I persuaded the first minister that was the right thing to do, and it turned out to be the wrong thing to do," he said.

"I came incredibly close to resigning. Very, very close because I felt I had made a mistake.

"l remember reading a comment which said surely the kids in Scotland could have been given a break, because everything else has been turned upside down. And I thought, that's your mistake mate, you should own it."

Mr Swinney said he "took a bit of persuading", but that Ms Sturgeon convinced him to stay in post to deliver changes to the system.

He later survived an opposition attempt to oust him in a vote of no confidence at Holyrood over the row.

John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon are both heading for the back benches

Ms Sturgeon defended him in that debate and has paid a warm tribute to him as they prepare to leave government. In a personal statement at Holyrood on Thursday, she described Swinney as "the best deputy first minister and the best friend" she could have had in office.

Separately, she told the BBC "the most important person in my adult life outside my husband and family is actually John Swinney".

The first minister said she realised that to be the case when they sat down together after she gave evidence to the Holyrood committee investigating the Scottish government's mishandling of complaints against the former first minister, Alex Salmond.

In the past, Ms Sturgeon had described Mr Salmond - her friend and mentor of 30 years - in similar terms.

She has revised that assessment after the spectacular breakdown in their relationship in 2018.

You can subscribe to the Nicola Sturgeon podcast on BBC Sounds now. Episode 1: The Resignation is available from Monday 27 March.