Swinney, who was responsible for cutting spending and imposing a two-year pay freeze in the public sector, sold his Edinburgh residence for £430,000 having bought the four-bedroom apartment on one of the capital’s most desirable streets for £355,000 in December 2003 while SNP leader.

At the time, the two-storey terraced property was the most expensive second home ever bought by an MSP.

Swinney on a salary of £100,000 a year, used parliamentary allowances to pay the interest on his RBS mortgage, ultimately claiming more than £60,000 from the public purse.

He also claimed around £10,000 to pay council tax for the Band G property on Morningside’s Hermitage Terrace.

Swinney, whose main home is in his North Tayside constituency, put the Edinburgh property on the market in June for “offers over £395,000”.

The prospectus praised its “magnificent” 23-foot drawing room, private front garden, “delightful leafy outlook” over Blackford Hill to the rear. It was under offer within weeks.

An application to record the final sale at £430,000 was made to Registers of Scotland on August 1. After capital gains tax, Mr Swinney made a profit of around £57,000.

Announcing a £1.3 billion cut in public spending in February, he said he wanted to “help households facing pay restraint and … increases in VAT and fuel prices”. However, he has also warned the public: “Hard choices must be made.”

Mr Swinney’s gain on the property was one of the largest ever recorded by an MSP.

Swinney has earned a fortune thanks to British taxpayers(Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

He enjoys the good life courtesy of the Scottish taxpayer, who, have stumped up over £2.5 million to his salary since he entered Holyrood in 1999.A huge figure is further boosted by his ministerial salary between 2007 and 2023. His two years in Bute House added around £200,000 to the sum and the figure does not include his four years as MP for Tayside North between 1997 and 2001, or the expenses he will have claimed during that period. Estimated at £500.000

Swinney as the current first minister, stands to earn a further £950,000 plus expenses

Total cost to the Scottish taxpayer. Approximately £5 million

Putting his pay into context, a worker on the average Scottish wage since 1999 would have earned around £696,000 in the same time period. The Herald

Swinney’s hypocrisy exposed as SNP MSPs own second homes portfolio worth £4.5m

Michelle Thomson, who has stood down as MSP for Falkirk East, is the SNP’s property queen(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

At the end of May 2025, which is the last time the Scottish Parliament register of interests was published, SNP politicians owned a litany of second, third and even fourth homes as well as rental and commercial property worth at least £4.5million.

MSPs do not have to register any home used as their main residence, or even properties they own which are used by their spouse or civil partner. Under the Holyrood rules, many MSPs are also entitled to rent a flat in Edinburgh at taxpayers’ expense.

Three SNP MSPs in the last parliament owned shares in property companies, including Colin Beattie who runs Ben Sheann Enterprises with his wife. The firm owns at least six rental properties in the north of England, worth £924,180.

Flat in Edinburgh, worth £150-£200k, rental income £10-£15k, Sold in April 2024

• Commercial property in Fife, worth £200-@250k, rental income £5-£10k, Sold in June 2024

Public finance minister Ivan McKee and his wife run a Glasgow property firm with assets worth £656,088, while Michele Thomson is involved with two different property companies.

Keith Brown:

One-sixth share in a flat in East Lothian, worth £150-£200k

Kenneth Gibson:

Flat in Glasgow, worth £150-£200k, rental income £10-£15k

Gillian Martin:

• Cottage in Aberdeenshire, worth £50-£100k

Michael Matheson:

Michael Matheson refused to step down over his expenses scandal(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

House in the Highlands, worth £250-£300k, rental income £15-£20k

Ivan McKee:

• House in Stirling, worth £500-£600k, rental income £10-£15k, Sold March 2025
• Half-owner of EISM Properties Ltd, which owns fixed assets worth £656,088

Paul McLennan:

• House in Dunbar, East Lothian, worth £150k-£200k, rental income up to £5k

Audrey Nicoll:

Half-owner of flat in Edinburgh worth £200-£250k

Michelle Thomson:

• House in Edinburgh, worth £150-£200k, rental income up to £5k
• Flat in Edinburgh, worth £200-£250k, rental income up to £5k
• Flat in West Lothian, worth £50-£100k, rental income up to £5k
• Sole trader of Thomson Holdings, a property investment company. Paid £10-£15k per year
• Director of Senza Rit Ltd, a property management company

Eveylyn Tweed:

• Commercial property in Stirling, worth £50-£100k, Sold March 2024
• House in Angus, worth £250-£300k

Living rent-free Claiming to be away from home

Collette Stevenson – Monthly rent £1,032.47

Alasdair Allan – Monthly rent £1,475

• Elena Whitham – Monthly rent £995
• Emma Harper – Monthly rent £1,095
• Emma Roddick – Monthly rent £1,200
• Gillian Martin – Monthly rent £1,069
• Graeme Dey – Monthly rent £1,195
• Jackie Dunbar – Monthly rent £848.25
• Karen Adam – Monthly rent £1,344
• Kenneth Gibson – Monthly rent £1,550
• Kevin Stewart – Monthly rent £925
• Mairi Gougeon – Monthly rent £925
• Maree Todd – Monthly rent £1,218.13
• Richard Lochhead – Monthly rent £800
• Ruth Maguire – Monthly rent £960
• Siobhian Brown – Monthly rent £1,150
• Stuart McMillan – Monthly rent £1,200