Former SNP leader John Swinney defends an SNP election campaign in a memoir foreword, responding to criticism attributed to Nicola Sturgeon. According to multiple reports, Swinney states that the campaign was “detached” from issues affecting people in Scotland and says it lacked “vision.” The outlets report that his remarks appear in the foreword to his memoir and are presented as a clarification of his view of the campaign’s substance and alignment with public concerns at the time. The coverage also frames the foreword as a response to an attack or critique from Sturgeon, though the specific wording of Sturgeon’s comments and the precise context of her remarks are not detailed in the excerpts provided. Overall, the articles agree that Swinney uses the memoir’s introduction to address criticisms of the campaign and to offer his assessment of why it did not sufficiently reflect what Scots were facing. The reports present Swinney’s position as an attempt to set out his perspective on the campaign rather than to campaign again in the present.