JOHN Swinney told SNP members that the party has “been consumed by process on independence,” during an internal election review at conference.

According to a report in The Times, a leaked recording from Friday’s review revealed the First Minister warned activists they need to win back Scotland’s middle class or the party could face another heavy election defeat.

Members were presented with internal polling analysis which showed a number of voters were switching to the Labour Party once they begin earning an annual salary of more than “the low £20,000s”.

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The newspaper reports that Swinney warned the party has to take the findings “very seriously” and that the Scottish Government’s performance had “faltered”.

He said: “I’m not standing in front of you in denial. I came in to lead this party a few months ago to try to rebuild the party because I could see the scale of difficult we face.”

The Times further reports that Swinney highlighted a number of mistakes which have been made, including independence becoming a lower priority among voters despite efforts to move it up the agenda.

He also pointed to the SNP’s “very visible problems,” and said Labour’s election message of change had “dwarfed” his party’s campaign push.

Swinney (above) added that the party had spent too long focusing on the process of independence and said he would “never treat the party membership with contempt”.

We told on Friday how a number of former SNP MPs said they felt the internal meeting was “constructive” while the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said he felt it was “very positive”.

The Times reports that Flynn also spoke at the meeting and that he said Yes supporters had been told too many times that “this will be it, this will be it, this will be it,” before repeated pushes for a second referendum failed to materialise.

He further urged the SNP to “reflect very carefully on language and rhetoric” and to treat Unionists with greater respect to try win them over to the party.

Swinney also said he would use his keynote speech to conference on Sunday to “explain the substance of independence, the advantage of independence, the possibility of independence” as part of a shift in strategy.

Also included in the review was a presentation by former minister Marco Biagi.

His analysis showed support had fallen “over the preceding 18 months,” which covered the resignations of Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.

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He said that Labour appealed to a wider range of voters than the SNP with people “much more likely to vote Labour at higher incomes”.

Challenged on this by one delegate, Swinney said: “We’ve got to take that point very seriously. I got criticised many years ago for saying that I thought we had to be lined up alongside aspirational Scots.

“I got absolutely panned for saying that but I was right. This party won in 2007, and 2011 and 2016 and 2021 because we commanded the middle class.”

Swinney admitted the SNP “got to a position where we disappointed voters” but insisted the party could still win the 2026 Holyrood election.

“We’ve got to work to create a purposeful and united party,” Swinney said.

“I will say this in this session - I won’t say it in public – but we have got to be more cohesive.

“If we are not more cohesive then I think you can all work out what’s going to happen. You saw what happened when we weren’t cohesive in the election in July.”